The Four Seasons
by cherryblossoms redwillow
Summary: When somebody finds an unconscious girl laying in the snow, one might call for help. Not Gray. Instead he took her in. Maybe that's how he got into this whole mess. But what does this girl have to do with the seasons? And there's others like her? Gruvia, Nalu, Gajevy, and Jerza.
1. Chapter 1

Cold. Why is earth so cold? And it's dark. No... Wait. My eyes are just closed. Opening her eyes, she sees a world of white. White like clouds. What am I doing here? I can't remember. No, I have vague memories. Where? Where are the others? They should be here. But I'm cold.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Looking up, a black haired man stood there. She couldn't make out anything except for the distinct black hair against the soft white snow. It was then that she realized how weak she felt. She couldn't say nor do anything so she let the darkness take over.

Waking up it was warm. Something soft was around her. She pulled it closer. She soon realized she wasn't in the place of white anymore. She didn't see the black haired man either. Sitting up, she looks around. She was on a weird box, but it was comfy. There were other things of various shapes and sizes that she didn't know what they were. She tried getting off of the box, except her feet tangled in the soft things and she fell to the ground. Last time she checked the ground wasn't made from these weird brown things. She stayed in her weird position, the upper half of her body on the weird ground and the lower half on the raised box, and observed the strange, tree-like patterns on the strange ground. If she didn't know better she would say the ground was made of trees. A few moments later the rectangle on the wall burst open.

"Hey! Are you alright?!" The black haired man came from the rectangle. He stares at her on the ground while she stares back at him. There was silence between them. Then finally she spoke up.

"What's wrong with the ground?"

"Huh?"

"The ground. What's wrong with it?"

"Uh... Nothing's wrong with it."

"Yes there is! Look! It's hard and looks like it's made of trees!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"It's made of wood."

"So it is made of trees!"

"Are you crazy?" She shakes her head. "Ok, Ok. I'm just gonna calm down for a second. What's your name?"

"Juvia's name is Juvia Loxar." She responds.

"Ok Juvia, are you gonna tell me what you were doing in the forest?"

"Shouldn't Juvia's savior tell her his name first?"

"Um, right. Gray, Gray Fullbuster." He puts out his hand. Juvia looks at it quizzically.

"What is Gray-sama doing with his hand?"

"Ok, one it's called a handshake. Two, are you sure you're not crazy? Three, why are you talking in third person. And finally Gray-sama?"

"Juvia is not crazy and she just talks this way. Juvia believes since Gray-sama took away the cold she should give him a big title."

"Alright then..." Gray looks at skeptically. This woman must really be crazy. "So Juvia, where are you from?" Juvia thinks for a moment.

"Juvia doesn't know." She stated matter-of-factually.

"Um, do you remember anybody? Any family? Any friends?" At each Juvia shakes her head. "Do you know how you got in the forest?" Juvia thinks a moment.

"Juvia fell."

"Fell? Fell from where?"

"Juvia doesn't know. She just fell from high up. Then Juvia saw white and was cold then saw Gray-sama."

"So I guess you have amnesia?"

"Juvia thinks so." Juvia nods, then thinks a moment. "What's amnesia?" Gray groans. It's barely been ten minutes and this girl was driving him up the wall.

"Amnesia is when you lose some or all of your memory. I'm no expert, but seeing how you don't know what wood floors or a handshake is, I'm pretty sure you have it."

"Then Juvia has amnesia!" Juvia chirps.

"That's a bad thing." Gray rolls his eyes.

"Juvia has amnesia?!" She sounded shocked. Gray face palms.

"Know what, you must be hungry. Want some food?" Juvia perks up.

"Yes please!"

"Fine just wait here," Gray stops based on her behavior she'd probably literally stand there until he got back. "Or go lie down on the bed."

"Bed?"

"That thing!" He points to the bed she had been laying on. Juvia looks at the bed then back at him.

"You mean the comfy rectangle?"

"Yes!" Gray groans.

* * *

"What is this delicious food?!" Juvia looked as if she was worshiping the plate of soft gold disks dressed in a golden sauce.

"They're called pancakes. Usually you have them for breakfast, but they were the only thing on-hand."

"They're delicious! Juvia want to eat them every day!" Gray laughs at the girl. She may be annoying, but she is pretty funny.

"You'll get fat if you do that."

"Fat?! Juvia doesn't want to get fat!" If she didn't have amnesia, then maybe she would've been a typical girl.

"So do you remember how old you are?" Juvia looks up from her pancakes and thinks a moment.

"Juvia thinks she's seventeen."

"Seventeen, huh? Just a little younger than me."

"How old is Gray-sama?"

"Eighteen. I'm a senior in high school."

"High school?" Juvia tilts her head.

"School is where people go to learn things." Juvia makes an 'O' with her mouth while nodding. "That reminds me, I need to go in tomorrow. Jeez, I'm gonna be in so much trouble."

"Gray-sama will get in trouble? Why?"

"You see, attendance is a mandatory thing. And today I got mad at a teacher and stormed out. That's a big no-no at school. Although that's kind of how I found you."

"But if Gray-sama explains himself then maybe the school will understand!" Gray stares at her for a minute.

"You really don't know anything, do you?"

"Juvia has the amnesia thing."

"For some reason I don't think it's just the amnesia." Juvia tilts her head. "Never mind. Just eat your pancakes." Juvia gives him a concerned expression before gleefully biting into her pancakes.

"Juvia will never be mad at Gray-sama." Juvia says with a mouthful of pancakes.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth." Gray tries to suppress a smile. It was in that moment that he realized, she would be staying for a long time. And if he knew what he had in store for him, perhaps he would've kicked her out right then and there.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jose how could you?!" The white haired man roared.

"You took away what was mine. It was only fair I took what was yours." The black haired man protested.

"All I did was promote her. She looked so sad while working for you so I thought I should bring her up here. Then you did that even before her first job!" The white haired man was filled with rage. "Get out of my sight. The council won't be pleased when they hear of this."

"I'm not the one at blame here." The black haired man sneers before leaving.

"What shall we do?"

"I'll go look for them sir." A girl with blue hair steps forward. "My wind can see anything it touches."

"Very well. You'll go on ahead. I'll send more to help later."

"Got it!" She yells before running out.

"Oh Mavis, I beg of you, watch over those girls."

* * *

Gray walked quietly out the doors of his school. He ignored almost everybody who tried to speak to him, especially the girls. He hops into his car and drives home. There was one thing on his mind, Juvia. Well it was mostly him hoping she hadn't burnt the house down, set anything on fire, nor trying to fight some random object. In the course of a week, she's managed to do two of the three (and he is so happy it wasn't the burning of the house). Parking in his driveway, he lets out a sigh of relief that she hasn't burnt the house down yet. He approaches the door and luckily hears no screaming nor proclamations of war. He inserts the key and opens the door.

"I'm ho-" And just like that, Juvia was clinging to him.

"Gray-sama! Juvia stepped on a little box and a bigger box started showing pictures and emitting sound! Juvia is scared it's trying to tell her something but Juvia can't understand it! And she doesn't know how to make the bigger box stop!" Juvia was practically crying. No not practically, she was crying. Gray sighs. He turns to where the tv was. It's volume wasn't on that high so that explained why he couldn't hear it through the door. It was playing a Mexican cooking channel. He walks over and clicks the power button on the remote.

"How many times do I have to tell you to just stay put?" Gray groans.

"But Juvia gets bored while Gray-sama is at school!" Gray rolls his eyes and tosses his bag aside. He starts rummaging through his kitchen for a snack. Wherever he went, Juvia followed. She was like a puppy. No seriously, if someone told him the reason she didn't remember anything was because through some sort of magic she was turned from puppy to human, he wouldn't be to surprised. He sat down on the couch and turned on the tv. He flicked through the channels, trying to ignore the warm body leaning closer to him.

"Ok you're getting on my nerves."

"But when Gray-sama touches a button on the small box something changes on the bigger box!"

"That big box is called a tv. This small box is called a tv remote, it controls what channels are shown, the volume, and when it's on or off."

"So it's magic?"

"Um... Not really."

"If it's not magic what is it?"

"Um some sort of complicated technological stuff. I can't describe it."

"Oh. So Gray-sama and Juvia can watch these channel things?"

"Well each channel has some shows on it. They cycle through episodes and series to show."

"Series? Series as in book series?"

"Something of the sorts. Episodes are acted out and broadcasted onto the tv."

"Is that part magic?"

"Ugh, there's no magic here! Here just watch the news or something! I'm going to do my homework!"

"Where does Juvia find the news?"

"It's on a channel! Figure it out yourself!" Gray groans and picks up his bag. He goes to his room and tries working on his homework, but he didn't get very far. He was distracted. He kept wondering what Juvia was doing, if he should take a nap, or whatever else crossed his mind. After half an hour of nothing, he gave up and decided to check on Juvia. He was surprised about how quiet she was. He enters the living room and was happy to see her intently watching tv. He was right about to go back into his room when he heard her sniffle. He approaches her and notices that she was crying. He looks to the tv and was surprised to see it showing Singin' in the Rain.

"They still play this on tv?" Gray asks out loud. Juvia jumps and turns around.

"Gray-sama." She croaks as she wipes tears off of her face. "Juvia didn't see you come in."

"What's wrong? This isn't a sad part of the movie."

"Juvia... Juvia doesn't know why. She just felt sad when those people took cover from the rain. Maybe whoever made the rain worked hard on it."

"I don't know why you're sad. It's just a common reflex to not get wet by the rain."

"It is?"

"Yeah. Nobody wants to get wet."

"Juvia didn't know. But it's still sad."

"I'm probably saying this for the hundredth time, but you're very strange."

"Should Juvia not be?"

"Well I guess it's fine." In all honesty, Gray thought it made his boring life a little more interesting. "Just do whatever's natural to you."

"But Juvia doesn't know how to be natural." Gray thinks a moment before hatching an idea.

"Wait right here." He runs into his room and grabs a few books and his laptop. When he comes back out, Juvia looks at the strange (to her) objects in his arms. He sits next to her and put the collection on his lap. "So this is a book. With this you can-"

"Yes, Juvia knows what a book is. She had to use them during her training. She also reads a few during her leisure time. Her favorite genre is romance." Gray's jaw hit the floor. He just stared at her in stunned silence. "What's wrong Gray-sama?"

"How do you-? What's with-? Ok ok, so you know what books are, but you didn't know what pancakes are?!"

"Gray-sama is surprised? Juvia mentioned book series earlier..." Juvia deadpans. "But Juvia didn't know she knew about books. It just came out."

"Then can you read this?!" Gray opens up the first book and shows it to her.

"Yes, it's talking about fish." Juvia answers. "This is a children's book. Why does Gray-sama have a children's book?"

"That's not the point! But this makes things so much easier! You have no idea!" Gray places the books on the floor. After that he opens his laptop and logs into his account. "This is a laptop. Everything is really complicated so you might want to look up everything. I'll show you how to do that in a few seconds." He drags the mouse and clicks on a web browser. "That was a web browser. It brings you to this page." Juvia opens her mouth to ask a question, but Gray interrupts her. "Leave questions to the end. Talking about questions, using these buttons you type a question in here. Press the long button that says space when you want a space. The button that says shift capitalizes every letter and allows you to use the blue symbols above the numbers. Caps lock capitalizes every letter until you press it again." Gray goes through each action after he says them. Juvia watches in amazement. "Now instead of asking me, you can type it in and ask the internet."

"Internet?" Juvia asks. Her eyes were filled with wonder.

"Yeah." He slides the laptop onto Juvia's lap. "Why don't we make that your first question?" Juvia just stares at the object in her lap. She then shakily raises a finger and presses on the first key. She continues like that, slowly pressing each key with a single finger. Finally she finishes her sentence.

"What does Juvia do now?"

"Now press either enter or use the pad to move the mouse on the screen over the magnifying glass. And when I mean mouse, I mean the little triangle." Juvia slides her finger across the pad and the mouse goes off the screen. After a few minutes of trial and error, as well as the mouse going everywhere across the screen except the search button. Finally she gets the mouse to the search button and Gray shows her how to click. She jumps when the next page loaded. It was filled with answers to her question and then some. Gray couldn't help but chuckle at her surprised face.

"You can play around with that. Also you might want to try to learn how to type." With that, Gray got up and went to do his homework.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been about three weeks since Juvia crashed into Gray's life. In the beginning it was slightly rough, but now it's as if Juvia has been living with Gray for years. By now they've gotten into some sort of daily routine. Juvia wakes Gray up in the morning (her being a freakishly early riser), Gray gets ready for school while Juvia makes breakfast (usually just cereal), they eat breakfast, Gray goes to school, Juvia stays home and usually searches the internet, Gray comes home from school then does his homework, later Gray makes a quick dinner, they eat, and after cleaning up they sit in the living room doing whatever until going to sleep. It was sort of a peaceful life.

"Was Gray-sama listening?" Juvia's voice interrupts his thoughts.

"Huh? No, sorry."

"Juvia asked why no one else lived with Gray-sama." Juvia asks.

"Finally found out it's not normal, huh?" Juvia suddenly finds her dinner very interesting.

"Juvia wanted to know more about Gray-sama so she looked him up on the internet." Over the past few weeks, Juvia had been getting used to all the words and stuff associated with the internet. But that wasn't the point. She had been looking him up?

"What did you find?"

"Several things. But Juvia found an obituary." Gray stabbed at a meatball on his plate. He didn't expect her to find something like that. "Who is Mika?"

"Mika's my mom."

"So she died?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. So basically my parents got into a car crash when I was young. My mom, who I heard was in the passenger seat, died. Then they couldn't find my dad's body so they assumed he survived. We don't know where he is." Gray remembered that day as if it was yesterday. It was a clear sunny day and at school that day, he was super excited because afterwards he was supposed to be going on vacation with his parents. Then when the end of the day came, he patiently waited at the car pick-up for his parents. Of course they never came.

"So is that why Gray-sama lives alone?" Juvia asks.

"Not really. I was sent to foster care. There I lived with my foster mother, her daughter, and my foster brother. I lived with them up until two years ago. Then I decided to move out. My foster mother is kind enough to pay for my rent."

"She seems more than just kind. But how does she manage to pay for two houses?"

"Well my foster mom is a talented and popular artisan. She runs a shop nearby. My foster brother works part-time there."

"What about your foster mother's daughter?"

"She works at a friend's restaurant."

"Has Gray-sama talked to them since he left?"

"Eh, not that much... Well I've had my hands tied since your arrival."

"Juvia is sorry."

"It's nothing to be sorry about. I really only see them around holidays. I'm seeing them on Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"It's a gift giving holiday. Look it up. Now that I think about it, Christmas vacation is coming up. I'm sure there's plenty of Christmas specials on tv. Surprised you haven't seen anything."

"Ah well, Juvia's been doing a lot of research on the internet." Juvia blushes.

"There's no shame in looking things up." Gray stands up. "I'm gonna start the dishes. Why don't you do some research on Christmas?" Juvia's face brightens and she springs up from the table.

"Yes Gray-sama!"

* * *

The next day was another long day at school. Just like any normal day, he drove home from school then when he got home Juvia would be waiting, he would do his homework, blah blah. Instead when he opened the door, Juvia was waiting right there.

"Gray-sama!" She shouted as he opened the door. This caused him to leap back.

"J-Juvia! Don't startle me like that!"

"Sorry Gray-sama, but Juvia wants to go shopping!"

"Shopping?"

"Yes! Isn't that what people do around Christmas?"

"So you've been doing your research." Gray sighs. He walks past her and throws his bag and coat on the couch. As he walks to the kitchen, he trips on something. He looks down to see his sleeping bag and pillow. "I thought I put these away this morning." He grumbles and starts folding the sleeping bag.

"Ah well, Gray-sama did."

"Then why is it out on the floor?" Gray asks irritated. Juvia nervously twiddled her fingers. He could guess the answer.

"Juvia wanted to see what Gray-sama has been sleeping in the past few weeks so she took out his sleeping bag and pillow and tried resting in it like Gray-sama. It was uncomfortable so Juvia got out, but she didn't know how to put it back..." Gray sighs. She was right, it wasn't comfortable one bit. Juvia has been using the only bed in the house so Gray has been switching between using the couch and the sleeping bag. After putting the sleeping bag aside, Gray grabs his coat off the couch and starts walking towards the door.

"Juvia, come on we're going shopping." Gray says. Juvia perks up.

"Really?! Juvia can get Gray-sama a gift!"

"It's not that." Gray sighs. "I'm gonna buy a futon or something and I think it's due time we get you some clothes." Gray looks Juvia up and down. She was wearing one of his sweaters (which was over-sized), one of his pants (which were over-sized and were held up by one of his belts), and even one of his boxers.

"Yay! Gray-sama and Juvia are going shopping!" Juvia cheers.

 _'It's nice seeing her happy.'_ Gray thinks. _'Perhaps this shopping trip isn't such a bad idea.'_

 _'Worst. Idea. Ever.'_ Gray mentally slaps himself for thinking this would be fun. It's been about two hours since their shopping trip officially began. At first it was for Juvia to get a few outfits and a pair of shoes, but now it was a full blown shopping trip. And worst of all, he still hasn't gotten a futon.

"What does Gray-sama think?" Juvia's voice interrupts his thoughts. She was holding a blue blouse up to her chest.

"I honestly don't care." Gray groans. He was leaning against the cart that was already filled with clothes. He was so happy he brought her to a store that sold inexpensive clothing. Who knows how much he would've had to pay if he brought her to a mall or designer store.

"Then Juvia will get it!" Juvia smiles and drops the blouse in with the rest of the clothes.

"Hey I think that's enough clothes shopping for now. I mean we have to carry all this plus all the other clothes you got today." By Gray's feet were at least ten large shopping bags filled with clothes from various stores. Juvia was even wearing one of the outfits she had bought today. She wore light blue snow boots lined with white fur, dark blue pants, a cute blue T-shirt with santa and his reindeer printed on it, and her blue coat with fake white fur cuffs and collar was in the cart.

"Ok! Juvia is going to try some of these on now!" She pulls the cart to the dressing rooms. While she was in a stall, Gray sat on the bench right outside of it. Periodically she'd come out of the dressing room to model an outfit, but then she'd lock herself back inside until the next outfit. While he was waiting, the door next to him opened. A blonde haired girl walked out clutching a few outfits. As she walked by, she tripped on one of the shopping bags. Her body and her clothes all fell to the ground.

"Woah! Sorry about that." Gray crouches down to help pick up a few articles of clothing.

"No it's fine. I wasn't watching where I was going." The girl says, gathering the ones in front of her. She pauses to look at all the bags and the clothes in the cart. "Are you shopping with your girlfriend?" For some reason that statement caused his face to heat up.

"No! She's just a friend!" The girl laughs.

"I wish the friend with me today was as nice as you. He left me here with some money and went to the game store next door."

"Sounds like some friend." Gray snickers and hands her the clothes he picked up. He stands up and offers her his hand.

"Thanks." When the girl grabs it, a strange sensation coursed through his body. It felt similar to the first time he touched Juvia, except at the same time it was kind of different. It felt like the heat of summer. "Um, are you alright?" Gray snapped his attention to the blonde haired girl in front of him. Her brown eyes stared at him with concern.

"Yeah, it's nothing." He notices he was still holding her hand so he retracts it quickly.

"Well thank you for helping me." The girl smiled and walked away. She disappeared though the racks of clothing. Gray stared after her, wondering about the strange sensation he felt.

"What does Gray-sama think of this outfit? Juvia had a hard time putting it on, but she thinks it looks nice." Juvia bursts out and twirls in the outfit she was wearing. She stopped when she noticed the distant look on Gray's face. "Gray-sama, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing. It looks good. You should get it." Gray sits back down on the bench. "How many more outfits?"

"This is the last one." Juvia replies. "Juvia will change so Gray-sama can buy everything."

"Yeah sounds like a plan." Juvia disappears back into the stall, but emerges a few moments later. The two make their way to checkout where Gray buys everything. But Gray just couldn't get the strange girl out of his head. They leave and start making their way back to where Gray parked a few blocks away. As they walk, Juvia babbles on about things she read and saw. Then she stopped in her tracks. It took a moment for Gray to realize the babbling bluenette wasn't by his side. He stops and looks around. Luckily Juvia wasn't that far away. She was looking at a display window.

"Hey don't wander off in a crowded area like this." Gray comes to her side.

"Juvia is sorry, but the display window caught her eye." Juvia apologizes while staring inside the window. Inside was carefully crafted jewelry, charms, and other accessories. If Gray didn't know any better, he probably would've said they were crafted by- wait... They were almost exact copies. This couldn't be her shop-

"Gray?!" An all to familiar voice says. Yes. This was it. He was definitely in front of Ur's shop.


	4. Chapter 4

"Gray?!" This was it, Ur's shop. Standing in front of him was none other than his annoying, white haired foster brother.

"Lyon, I would say nice to see you again, but that's kind of a lie." Gray says.

"Right back at you." Lyon responds. He was carrying a single bag of groceries compared to Gray and Juvia's fifty bags of clothing. "I see you've been doing some shopping."

"It's not for me. It's for her."

"H-Hello." Juvia peeps. Lyon stares at her for a moment.

"I have never seen someone as beautiful as you." Lyon suddenly has an arm around Juvia's shoulder. "It's cold outside. Why don't you come inside and I can warm you up."

"U-Um-" Juvia clearly seemed nervous. Although Gray could tell she didn't fully understand meaning of those words.

"A woman as beautiful as you must have a beautiful name to go with it."

"I-It's Juvia."

"I was right! Your name truly is beautiful. My name is Lyon, but you can call me you Prince." Gray just watched in shock at the show in front of him. Never in his life had he seen his foster brother act like this.

"G-Gray-sama," Juvia cries, "help Juvia..."

"Lyon, you heard her. Now get your hands off her."

"I didn't hear her say that herself." Lyon responds. "Lady Juvia, would you like to join us for dinnner? I'm sure there's enough, but if not we can always share."

"Don't call Juvia Lady Juvia." Juvia seemed a little creeped out by the name. In the frozen tundra called Lyon's mind, that was taken as a yes. He started leading Juvia inside. Gray sighed and followed the two in. The interior of the shop was a lot more spacious than it seemed. Every inch seemed to glisten with some kind of shiny object. There was a lot of snowflake jewelry and Ur's signature roses. At the moment, the shop was empty. A woman with long black hair sat behind the counter.

"Lyon! Where were you?!" The black haired woman snaps. "I'm starving!"

"Sorry Ultear." Lyon replies. "But I caught a beautiful mermaid and an ugly carp."

"Hey!" Gray yelled in protest.

"Gray? I haven't seen you in a while." Ultear says.

"Yeah well I get busy and life happens."

"You have a life?!" Someone gasps from beside them. A pink haired girl around Juvia's age was standing there.

"Very funny." Gray rolls his eyes. "Meredy, why are you here?"

"I came here with Ul." Meredy stated simply.

"So whose this girl you found?" Ultear leans over the counter.

"This is Juvia. If you can't tell she's the love of my life." Lyon states.

"You just met her!" Gray yells. "Besides she's with me!"

"That's right!" Juvia suddenly found the courage to break away from Lyon. "Juvia is Gray-sama's!" The store was quiet. Meredy was the first one who spoke up.

"I didn't know you two are dating." The realization of what Meredy said hit Gray like a truck.

"W-W-Wait! It isn't like that!"

"Well I knew something was a bit different about you." Ultear smirks. "I mean Jellal has changed a little since he got himself a girlfriend a few weeks ago."

"I told you! It's not like that!" Gray could feel himself blushing. "We're just friends!"

"Then why were you jealous of Lyon trying to take Juvia?"

"I was not jealous!"

"The signs of jealousy are there." Meredy pipes in.

"I'm not jealous!"

"Is Gray-sama really jealous?!" Juvia seemed almost overjoyed.

"Not you too!"

"Alright what's all the commotion out here." A door next to the counter opened. A woman identical to Ultear, but with short hair, stepped out.

"Gray's here." Ultear says.

"Gray?" The woman asks. "Long time no see. You should drop by your family sometimes."

"Hey Ur. I think an introduction is in order." Gray says when he sees Juvia's confused face. "Juvia, this is my family-like-thing. Family-thing, this is my friend Juvia. She's only my friend. Nothing more." Gray starts. "That's Ur, my foster mom, Ultear there is her daughter, Lyon is my foster brother, and finally Meredy is Ultear's best friend."

"Nice to meet everybody." Juvia says. Lyon was instantly by her side again.

"So you're not taken?" Lyon asks.

"Um..."

"Just because she's not taken doesn't mean she's interested!" Gray snaps.

"A bit jealous, are we?" Lyon smirks.

"Jealous? I'm not jealous."

"Really? It seems-"

"Boys stop fighting." Ur cuts in before they could start a brawl and break something. "Lyon did you get the groceries?"

"They're right here." Lyon raises the bag he was still holding.

"Good. Now why don't you go home and make us some dinner. Remember to make extra for Meredy, Gray, and Juvia." Lyon's jaw drops.

"But-"

"We can handle the store for now." Ultear backs her mother up. "I mean there's no one here."

"But-"

"What are we having? It better be good." Meredy smiles sweetly. Lyon throws his free hand up in surrender.

"Fine I give up! There's no reasoning with you people!" Lyon turns on his heels and starts walking out of the shop. "But I'm going to make the best meal possible for Juvia." Lyon says over his shoulder before leaving.

"Well Juvia and I should be leaving. I mean we have all these bags to bring home." Gray starts trying to leave. He wasn't ready for a family dinner.

"Why don't you leave them in the shop? It'll be locked up when we leave for dinner and you'll have to come by anyway to pick up your car." Ur states.

"I can drive on my own."

"Oh no worries I'll drive you to the house then back here afterwards."

"But Ur-"

"Sorry, Gray, you're not missing another family dinner." Gray groans this day just became ten times longer than it should.

* * *

Family dinners. It's a time when everything is perfect on opposite day. The way to describe this one is a quiet showdown between family members with the ones not part of the family chatting away. Juvia and Meredy had become good friends in the span of an hour in the shop. Now they wouldn't be quiet. Because Ur had yelled at them earlier, Lyon and Gray were having a quiet fight with glares and hand signals instead of fists or words. Ultear would join in on Meredy and Juvia's conversation every once in a while, but ignored the boys. And Ur was ignoring everything and quietly eating her food. Halfway through their meal of spaghetti and meatballs, Ur finally speaks to one of the boys. The boy being Gray.

"So Gray, it looks like you did a lot of shopping today." Ur starts. Gray already didn't like where this was going.

"Um, yeah." Gray answers cautiously.

"Well you bought an awfully lot for someone who quit their job." Gray groans internally. This conversation again. He quit his part-time job before Juvia arrived and has been living off what little he had made. It was supposed to last him until he found a new job, but with the latest shopping spree, it didn't look like it.

"It's nice to splurge every once in a while."

"Yes, but do you even have any money left?" Gray knew she was leading him into some kind of trap, but he wasn't going to fall that easily.

"I bet I do." Gray reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. He leafs through all the receipts from today, hoping to find a single dollar bill. There was nothing.

"By your expression, I can see you're broke." Gray groans.

"What of it? I can probably get a job."

"Well if you need a job, I think I know the perfect one for you."

"Lay it on me."

"Work at my shop." Ur responds. That was it, that was the trap. The trap being revealed, Gray could now easily maneuver around it.

"No thanks. I think Natsu mentioned something about a job at the mall. I'll go there."

"You sure?" Ur raises an eyebrow.

"Completely."

"Alright." That was too easy. Ur was still planning something. "So Juvia, do you have a job?" There it was.

"A job? Juvia's never had one."

"Then why don't you work at my shop? It'll be a lot of fun. Plus Lyon already works there." Ur didn't know that Juvia had amnesia. Juvia would be helpless.

"Juvia would love to!"

"See Gray? Even your friend wants to work there."

"Fine I'll work at the shop!" Gray angrily stabs his meatball.

"Great. See you two tomorrow for training." Ur smirks. He had avoided the trap. He had avoided the trap by a long shot. But then a certain bluenette pulled him in.


	5. Chapter 5

Gray was mad. Mad that his foster mother tricked him, mad at Juvia who played a part, and mad at the fact that Ur knows about his and Juvia's secrets. During training yesterday, Juvia had slipped up multiple times and said them. In other words it was revealed that Juvia has amnesia, she lives with him, and doesn't go to school. Luckily Lyon wasn't around at the time because he would probably stuff Juvia's head with nonsense if he found out about her amnesia. Well more nonsense than the internet was probably giving her. He should've just given her a library card or something.

"Hey earth to Mr. Grumpyface!" A hand is waved in front of his face. Gray angrily swats it away.

"Natsu leave me alone." Gray growls.

"I was wondering why you weren't eating." Natsu says. "If you starve and die, I wouldn't have someone to fight. Well there's Gajeel, but I don't feel like getting suspended again until later in the year."

"I'm broke- wait! You got suspended?!"

"Yeah?"

"Since when?!"

"The first week and a half of the month. Wait did you seriously not notice that I was gone?!"

"I had other things on my mind." Gray shrugs.

"Igneel was furious and he grounded me! Are you seriously saying you haven't heard me complaining?!" Igneel was Natsu's foster father. Natsu and Gray had met through a program their old school had tried starting up for foster children. It quickly fell apart due to them fighting all the time. Once the program fell, the fighting didn't stop there and a "beautiful" frenemy-ship had started.

"All that ever comes out of your mouth is blah blah blah fire blah blah blah Happy blah blah Gray is the best blah. To be honest I thought you were grounded because you set something important on fire or dyed Happy blue again."

"Hey! Igneel and Happy are fine with it now!"

"Who dyes their cat blue?! No wait, don't answer that. Obviously someone with girly hair."

"Care to say that again?"

"Bring it on Cotton Candy Head!"

"Ice Princess!"

"Flame Brain!"

"Elsa!"

"That's the same thing as ice princess!"

"Excuse you! Elsa is a queen!"

"I thought you hated Frozen!?"

"I do! But at least I have my facts straight!"

"Ahem!" A teacher was standing at their table. Nobody else was paying attention to them since their fighting happened almost everyday. Most of the teachers didn't even care anymore, especially since if they had detention together the place would become a battleground. "No fighting." The teacher says. Both boys sit down with a grumble. After both of them sit for a moment in quiet hatred, Natsu finally speaks up.

"So Ice Princess, you're broke?"

"Never bring a girl shopping." Gray groans. "One of my friends, that's a girl, dragged me to go shopping and now I'm broke."

"Haha! I'm pretty clever. Give them some money and wait for them at a video game store."

"That's awful of you."

"Yeah well I don't lose as much money."

"What, so you spend your savings at the video game store?"

"Can it Captain Underpants."

"I stopped that habit ages ago."

"Yeah only at school." Natsu snorts.

"I'm going to ignore you. Ur is making me work at the shop so I can earn some money."

"You're making jewelry again?!" Natsu suppresses a laugh. He didn't suppress it enough and he was laughing his head off in no time.

"Natsu. Stop. I said- stop laughing!" Gray crosses his arm in frustration. "She just wants me to help with the ice sculptures." Ur's shop was known not only for its jewelry and accessories, but also for Ur's amazing works of ice sculptures. "It's Christmas time and fancy people want fancy sculptures at their fancy parties."

"What is Ur going to teach you to ice skate next?" Natsu snickers.

"I have no idea why I'm friends with you." Gray rolls his eyes.

"That's because we're not friends. You and Gajeel are my frenemies. No I would call Gajeel my acquaintance so he's my... Enequiantance?"

"That doesn't make sense."

"Thanks captain obvious. I'll work on the name!" The bell rings and Gray was so happy to hear it. He grabbed his bag and dashed out of the cafeteria.

* * *

The rest of the day went on as normal. At the end of the day, Gray left his final class and went to his locker. Natsu walked by, but he said he was busy after school and had to leave immediately. Gray grabbed his scarf and coat and walked out the door. He was surprised to see it snowing lightly, there hadn't been very much snow lately. As he walked out, an unfamiliar girl was sitting on a school bench reading. Gray couldn't tell if he was crazy or not, but the snow seemed to be going around her. Gajeel suddenly stopped in front of the girl and blocked his view of her. When Gajeel moved the girl was gone. Gray just shrugged it off and continued walking to his car. He drove to Ur's shop and parked in back.

"Hey I'm here!" Gray enters through the backdoor. Juvia was sitting at one of the work tables. Her back was to him so he couldn't see what she was doing. He throws his coat aside and walks over to see. She was painting a pot with well-painted elegant flowers. "You're pretty good at that." Juvia jumps and drops her paintbrush.

"Gray-sama! Don't scare Juvia like that!" Juvia pouts. Her pout was so adorable and only made Gray chuckle.

"So where's Ur and Lyon?"

"Ur is at the cash register while Lyon is grabbing some extra supplies. Ur says that there's a higher demand of things since its Christmas."

"Well yeah. That's probably why she tricked us into working for her."

"Tricked? But Ur didn't trick Juvia."

"She didn't trick you, she tricked me. When I was little Ur would always pull the 'but your friend is doing it' or 'it's either this or some thing I don't like' and I always fell for it. I guess I still do." Juvia starts giggling. "What's so funny?"

"Juvia is just imagining it. Gray-sama was very cute when he was a kid." She giggles. Gray felt a blush spreading across his face.

"I-I'm just going to ask Ur if there's anything I need to do." Gray hurries out of the back room. Ur was helping someone at the cash register. "Hey Ur, I just got here. Is there anything I need to do?"

"Matter of fact, yes. When I'm finished with this customer, take the cash register. I want to see Juvia's progress." Ur was typing the customer's items into the register.

"Alright." Ur finished a moment later and allowed Gray to take over. He worked at the cash register until Lyon came back so he could take over. Gray took a break in the back room where Ur was training Juvia. It was kind of boring to watch them, but he was very surprised by how fast Juvia was learning how to paint. He didn't get to paint pots until he had been with Ur for 6-7 years.

"Juvia, have you thought about going to school with Gray?" Ur starts a conversation. The question caught both Juvia and Gray off-guard.

"Going to school with Gray-sama?!" Juvia looked as if she had been enlightened.

"Of course. I could even be your guardian."

"Wait, is this really a good idea?" Gray asks.

"Well we could say she's an exchange student. The daughter of a family friend." Ur suggests. "I think it would make things easier so we don't have to explain why she doesn't know much." Ur wasn't going to back down.

"Juvia is going to go to school with Gray-sama!" Juvia cheers.

"We'll have you in school some time after Christmas vacation! Juvia you're going to have a lot of fun!" Ur's mind was set. Juvia was going to school with him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Jose is missing!" Someone burst through the doors to the office.

"Missing? What do you mean he's missing?!"

"He's just gone! I went to check on him before his sentencing and he just wasn't there!"

"This is troublesome... Gather some people to look around. He couldn't have gone far."

"Right away sir." The worker leaves.

"Oh what to do, what to do." The white haired man grumbles. "There's been no word on the girls and now Jose is missing. The council will be furious!" With a sigh he leaps off his chair and paces around the room.

"They are fine." A soothing voice says.

"Mistress!" The white haired man bows before the girl who appeared before him.

"There is no need for formalities here." She giggles.

"Of course. I'm assuming you've heard about the situation?"

"Yes. It is very regrettable."

"Your system is falling apart, and it's my fault."

"It's not your fault. Those girls are safe, I know it."

Juvia's eye snap open. She wasn't in the strange office anymore, but in Gray's bedroom like usual. She was about to drift off again, but a knock at the bedroom door woke her up before she fully fell asleep.

"Juvia? You awake?" Gray's muffled voice calls through the wooden door.

"Yes, Juvia just woke up." Juvia calls. "What is Gray-sama doing up so early?"

"Early? You slept in!" It took a minute and three clock checks for Juvia to realize Gray was right. She was late.

"Why didn't Gray-sama wake Juvia up earlier?!" Juvia jumped out of bed and rushed to the closet. She kept her clothes folded in a few laundry baskets.

"Because you're usually up first and wake me up." Gray was rolling his eyes on the other side of the door. He was going to be late for school. Juvia grabbed whatever outfit was on top and quickly dressed.

"But doesn't Gray-sama set a... Um... Clock?"

"Alarm. And I do, but you usually wake me before it goes off."

"Juvia is so sorry Gray-sama!" She flings open the door, nearly hitting Gray. He sighs and goes in to grab his clothes. Juvia rushes to the kitchen to make a "feast" of cereal and milk. When she grabbed the cereal from the cabinet. She was surprised to find a little cloth ghost behind it. She observed that it was actually a teru-teru bozu doll. When she picked it up a vision, no a memory, came into her head. It was... Her... Sewing one of these with a dull look on her face.

"Juvia!" Gray's voice cuts through the memory.

"Yes Gray-sama?"

"Are you alright? You're crying."

"Huh?" Juvia puts a hand to her face to find tears streaming down her cheeks. She quickly wipes them away. "Sorry Gray-sama. Juvia doesn't know why she's crying." Gray raised an eyebrow, but doesn't push it. "Is this Gray-sama's?" Juvia holds out the teru-teru bozu doll she found.

"No. I've never seen it before in my life." Gray responds. "But it's yours. It's finders-keepers."

"Finder-keepers?"

"Look it up later. Right now we need to get to Ur's."

* * *

"I have news!" Ur yells as Gray and Juvia walk into the shop in the morning.

"Please make it quick. It's the last day of school before Christmas break and I don't want to miss any lounging around." Gray says.

"You always lounge around." Ur sighs. "Well anyways, I talked to the school's admission people yesterday and they would love to have Juvia. Although they said she won't be able to start until the middle of January. Apparently they set it up so that she would come in around the same time as another student."

"It doesn't matter! Juvia is so happy! She can attend school with Gray-sama! Juvia wonders how many classes they'll be in together."

"Oh, um sorry Juvia. I asked for you to be in the junior class." Ur interrupts Juvia's cheering. Juvia looked shattered. "You don't know that much so I thought it would be easier for you to be in a grade lower than Gray."

"A-At least Juvia will be in the same school as Gray-sama..." Juvia sighs. Ur opens her mouth.

"You're gonna break her if you say we're not in the same school." Gray interrupts.

"I wasn't. You two are going to be in the same school. I was going to say, Gray weren't you in a rush?" Gray flinches.

"You're right! I'm gonna be late!" Gray rushes out the door, almost bumping into Lyon on his way out.

* * *

Christmas. A time of "giving" and "joy." A time to be with friends and family alike to share and spread the joy of the holidays. But apparently this concept doesn't apply to schools. It doesn't apply to frenemies either. The minute Gray walked through the door, Natsu and Gajeel strew lights and tinsel around him before running off. What annoyed him even more was the fact that they decided to spread "joy" and completely decorate his locker with even more lights, santas, ornaments, and apparently music? Apparently there was a radio inside his locker blasting Christmas songs. How they managed to do all this with a locker that was _locked_ was beyond Gray. Then the day was like any normal day before Christmas vacation. Teachers asked about Holiday plans, other allowed them to so nothing, and some made them watch Christmas specials. The English teacher even decided to take part in the giving part of Christmas. She gave everyone a project! A project to write about their vacation. Yup, it's going to be "great."

By the end of school, Gray was exhausted. But he still needed to go to Ur's. He drove to her shop and was planning to find a nice little spot to nap. Perhaps use his old hiding spot from when he was a kid, well if he could still get there that is. When he got to the shop, he found Juvia in deep thought, holding the little ghost from the morning.

"Juvia, you still have that?" Gray asks. Juvia looks up.

"Hi Gray-sama." She mutters. "Juvia feels like she's seen this before. But it makes her sad."

"Are some of your memories coming back?"

"Only Juvia sewing this. But why is Juvia sad? Why did she have to make these? Will more of Juvia's memories come too? Are they just as sad? Maybe Juvia is actually bad!?"

"I think you're overthinking all of this."

"Maybe, but Juvia is still sad."

"Hm..." Gray suddenly thought of an idea. "Hey come with me." He grabs her hand and starts pulling her through the shop. Lyon was currently in charge of the cash register checking out a long line of people. He glared at Gray as he pulled Juvia away, but couldn't say anything because of the annoying customer in front of him. He pulled her to a corner of the store where there was a door with a passcode on it and a sign with "employes only."

"Gray-sama, isn't this for employes?"

"And what are we?" Gray rolls his eyes and punches in a code and the door unlocks. Behind the door were a set of stairs. "After you." He gestures. Juvia nods and climbs up the stairs. Gray follows and closes the door behind him. At the top was a large door. Gray walks past her and opens the door. It led to the roof.

"It's s-so cold up here." Juvia shivers.

"Oh sorry." Gray wasn't wearing a coat either, but he didn't seem to mind the cold. He took his shirt off and gave it to Juvia. The poor girl looked as if she was about to faint.

"B-B-B-But-"

"It's fine. Ur used to take Lyon and I to really cold places to get used to the cold. When you sculpt ice, you need to have resistance to the cold."

"W-Why did Gray-sama b-bring Juvia u-up here?"

"Well you were starting to get upset, so I thought I should show you the view." Gray pointed to the side of the building with the street.

"V-View-" Juvia's breath hitches. It was a beautiful sight. Buildings covered in shimmering heaps of snow steam and smoke rising from little chimneys were even more visible thanks to the cool air. Then there was a small park a few streets away with children playing and adults strolling along, like everything else it was covered in a blanket of snow. Above them the sun shined high in the sky with wisps of cloud floating by every once in a while. There was no breeze so the slight warmth of the sun and Gray's shirt permeated Juvia's body. "It's so pretty." Juvia sighs whimsically.

"Yeah? I used to come up here all the time. Sometimes I threw snowballs down at the people below, made them think that snow fell of the roof or something. It was actually pretty fun."

"If Juvia was around, she would've helped."

"Yeah, but Ur would get so mad. She would try every way possible to not allow me up here. None of them worked, but eventually I grew out of it."

"Gray-sama sounds like he had a fun childhood. Juvia wishes she could remember hers."

"Well I'm sure you'll remember eventually."

"Really?"

"Well nothing is really lost. You just have to keep looking and you'll find it eventually. That's what Ur told me once."

"Will Gray-sama stay with Juvia until she finds her memories. No! Even after Juvia finds her memories!"

"Sure."

"Even if Juvia is actually a bad person?"

"Well yeah, I can't imagine you being bad anyways. Plus you've pretty much already moved into my house." Gray laughs.

"Does Gray-sama promise?"

"It's a promise." Juvia gives a content smile. "Now you won't believe about the day I've been having!" Gray starts retelling his tale of today's tinsel and lights. Every once in a while he earned a laughs from Juvia. He knew she couldn't be bad. Even if her memories returned and she was a criminal or something, she just wasn't bad. Right?


	7. Chapter 7

The holidays. A time for family. A family that you're not about to kill. "Go to a light show" they said, "it'd be fun" they said, yeah right. They were packed into a minivan, Ur driving, Ultear in shotgun, Meredy and Gray behind them, and Lyon and Juvia in the back. Lyon had refused to relinquish his seat next to Juvia so Gray had to sit with Meredy. It seriously ticked him off that Lyon kept trying to hold Juvia's hand or flirt with her. Meanwhile, Meredy was singing (very loudly he might add) to every Christmas song that came on the radio. It didn't help that Juvia started singing too. She didn't know the words, but she tried. She tried...

"Let's go again!" Juvia cheers when they get to the end.

"We'll have to pay money in order to do that." Ultear laughs as she stepped out of the car. At the end of the light show, there seemed to be some activities going on. It was one of those mini fair things with a carousal, hot drinks, a few venders, some games, things like that. Gray had no interest in going in, but the others did.

"Gray-sama let's ride that!" Juvia grabbed Gray's arm and pointed to the carousal.

"No Juvia let's get something warm to drink!" Lyon grabbed Juvia's other arm.

"Please leave me alone..." Gray groans.

"This is something best decided by rock-paper-scissors." Meredy chimes in.

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Juvia asks.

"Yeah it's a simple deciding game. In this case, whoever wins gets to decide what's done." Meredy responds. She gives Juvia a quick run though of the rules.

"Juvia understands now!" Juvia nods.

"Alright. Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" Meredy chants.

How?! How does someone who learned to play two seconds ago beat two people who've known how to play for years. Maybe she doesn't have the bias "rock is the best" thing like Gray and Lyon apparently had. They both chose rock while she chose paper. Seriously who chooses paper on their first try? And why is paper even superior to rock? A rock can break through paper just as easily as scissors!

"Juvia wins!" Juvia cheers. Neither Gray nor Lyon looked happy. "Gray-sama has to ride the horses with Juvia!"

"It's called a carousel." Gray groans as Juvia pulls him towards the carousel. They got into line. Gray could feel the stares of the surrounding parents. Some thought they were crazy while others thought they were ironically getting on. When they were at the front of the line, Gray paid for them and the two went in. Juvia immediately picks two horses, a white one and a gray one.

"Here, Gray-sama can ride the white one." Juvia climbs onto the gray one.

"Ok." Gray shrugs. Unlike Juvia, who was riding it correctly, Gray sat sideways holding the pole in one hand to keep balance.

"Juvia is calling this one Gray."

"Can you be a little more creative with names? I mean it's gray colored and you're calling it Gray."

"Oops! Juvia was trying to name it after Gray-sama!" Gray's face heated up. He was beyond embarrassed and the ride hadn't even started yet. When the ride finally started, Juvia was overjoyed. She obviously had never ridden a carousel before, well she had just learned the name of it barely ten minutes ago. Halfway through there was an unmistakable flash of a camera. Gray looks around wildly to see Lyon holding out his phone. There was no doubt it was him that took the picture.

"Lyon stop!" Gray called. Lyon didn't stop. He just took another picture before Gray was out of sight. Then when Gray came back around, Lyon snapped more pictures. Then the second time he went around, and the third. Finally the ride stopped. Juvia looked as if she had fun. Once they exited, Juvia grabbed his arm.

"Gray-sama let's go again!" She bounced.

"One minute Juvia." Gray says through gritted teeth. He stomps over to Lyon, who was looking and laughing at the pictures. He looks up when Gray approaches.

"Have fun Gray?" Lyon smirked.

"Give me the phone, Lyon."

"What? Why?"

"So I can delete all of your pictures."

"No way!"

"Give me the phone or delete them yourself."

"Gray you're being immature right now."

"I don't care. Delete the pictures."

"Gray-sama Juvia wants to see what's inside!" Juvia points to the building where people were coming in and out of.

"You gotta listen to her." Lyon smirks.

"I swear, I will get you back for this." Gray glares as Juvia leads him away. She brings him into the building. There were a few things there like vendors and charities trying to make you donate to so-and-so place and whatnot.

"Gray-sama look over there! Fortune telling!" Juvia excitedly points to a booth where a brown haired girl sat. Gray found it unusual that she would be wearing a bikini top in the middle of winter, but it was warm in here and it was probably part of her whole gig or something. "Hello!" Juvia chirps when she pulls Gray to the booth. She definitely had a death grip.

"Hey! Juvia long time no see!" The girl grins. Both Gray and Juvia blink. She knew Juvia? "Whatcha' doing down here?"

"D-Does Juvia know you?"

"Aw c'mon now Juvia. Don't remember ol' Cana? I haven't been away that long have I?" Cana laughs. "I mean the Old Man's gonna be pretty angry when I get back, but what can I say? I love the alcohol and men down here. Speaking of men, where'd you find him and where can I get one?" Cana laughs at her own joke. "Just kidding. No offense, but you don't look like my type."

"Ok, ok. A, you're crazy, B, is that alcohol you're drinking and is that even allowed? C, what are you talking about? And D, who are you?" Gray asks, quickly getting annoyed by this fortune teller.

"A, yeah I get that a lot. B, yes and technically no. C, I don't understand your question and D, I'm Cana, Juvia's buddy."

"Juvia doesn't remember Cana." Juvia says. "She lost her memories about a month ago." Cana raises an eyebrow.

"That's odd. I spend a lot of time down here so the Old Man should've contacted me by now... Anyways, let's move on. How about I read both of your fortunes?" Juvia's eyes light up.

"That sounds fun! Gray-sama go first!" Gray sighs.

"How much do I owe you?"

"On the house! I don't do this often, but it's between buddies." Cana starts laying out her cards. She flips them over and studies the pictures on them. Her eyebrows scrunch in concentration. "Oh I haven't had something this cool in ages." Cana takes a swig of her bottle of whatever alcoholic beverage was in there. Gray didn't want to know. "Well I'm just gonna leave most of this a mystery, it'll be more fun this way. So you're gonna have to make a difficult choice. Whichever path you take will change your life forever. Apparently the wheels are already set in motion so you can't avoid it. Um... What else... The wind is changing... No that sounds lame... Ok, Ok this one's good." Gray groans at Cana's one-sided conversation. "Someone close to you is not who or what they seem. Be careful. Also watch out for shadows. And that's all I can really tell you. Like I said the rest is for you to find out." Cana shrugs. She gathers up her cards and starts shuffling them. "Juvia your turn!"

"What's Juvia's fortune?! What's Juvia's fortune?!" The said girl was bouncing up and down in excitement. Cana grinned at her "friend" and dealt out the cards. The grin was immediately wiped from her face.

"Juvia... I'm so sorry..." Juvia stops jumping and Gray raises an eyebrow. "You're gonna have to make the choice of finding your memories or not. It doesn't matter which choice you make, you'll be in pain no matter what. There's an omen in here as well. After the four goddesses combine powers, the world will be saved, but their hearts will be shattered."

"H-Heart?"

"It's not being clear, but it could mean they'll die." Juvia gasps. "It won't happen for a while so rest easy while you can. You'll be glad you did. Oh and one more thing!" Cana pulls up a furry blue bag and rummages through it. A moment later she pulls out four cards. Each of them were aces. She hands Gray three of the aces, each of them had beautiful trees decorated on the back. Each tree was a different season. Then Cana held out the Ace of Hearts to Juvia. On the back of it was a tree in full bloom and flowers decorated the border. "This is for you guys. You'll know what to do with them when the time comes." Juvia gingerly takes the Ace of Hearts.

She fainted. Juvia fainted.

"Juvia!" Gray shouts. Before he knew it, he was on the ground feeling her pulse. A crowd quickly gathered around and a few bent down to help. "Hey you-!" Gray turns back to Cana. She was gone as if she was never there.


	8. Chapter 8

"Juvia!" The flap of the first aid tent bursts open. Lyon, Meredy, Ultear, and Ur rush in. She was laying down on the medical bed with Gray sitting on a chair next to her.

"Everyone..." Juvia had woken up only a few minutes ago so her energy was still returning. "Juvia is sorry for worrying everyone."

"My dear Juvia, please don't be concerned." In a flash, Lyon was by her side, holding her hand. Gray did nothing. He was still getting over the shock of Juvia's fainting. "I am sorry I couldn't be here sooner. It is true that I was worried, but it did not faze me because I know the gods shine favorably upon us and would not separate such perfect lov-"

"Yeah yeah Shakespeare." Gray smacked Lyon's wrist, making him drop Juvia's hand. It falls to the side and she had no energy to move it. "She's practically immobile right now so stop taking advantage of her." He moves her hand back to her side. "She needs about 10 more minutes to rest, so let's leave her be."

"But-" Lyon starts.

"That's a good idea. Juvia, get better." Ur cuts Lyon off and grabs the collar of his shirt to drag him outside the tent. Ultear and Meredy follow them out.

"I'll be right back. Rest a little." Gray pats her hand before exiting the tent.

"So Gray, what happened?" Ultear asks when he exits.

"We don't know. Juvia said she was just shocked at what the fortune teller told her, so the medics are saying it's from emotional distress. I'm not so sure that's the case though."

"You're just worried." Ur says in a comforting tone. She walks over and lays a hand on his shoulder. "When she's regained her energy, we'll bring you two home. For now stay by her side. I'm gonna buy some dinner for us then come back. And you three are coming with me." she looks at Ultear, Meredy, and Lyon, mostly Lyon. "We'll be back in a bit." Ur grabs Lyon and leaves with the two girls following her. Gray sighs and goes back into the tent.

"How are ya feeling?" Gray sits back in his seat.

"Better. Juvia is gaining her strength back slowly."

"That's good." There was a quick moment of silence between them. Finally Juvia spoke up.

"Gray-sama... What will happen when Juvia gains her memories back?"

"I told you, I'm gonna stick with you."

"Juvia knows, but that's not what she's worried about. Cana said Juvia will be in a lot of pain."

"Don't listen to her. Nobody truly knows what'll happen in the future. I bet it was just her messing with us."

"Really?"

"Really. Now get your rest. Ur is getting us dinner." Juvia nods. Cana was probably messing with them.

* * *

"Gray-sama!" A loud voice rings through his ears, waking Gray from his peaceful sleep. He groans and slowly opens his eyes to the bouncing bluenette. A few days ago Ur was kind enough to give him a futon, one that changes from a couch to a bed, in exchange for more working hours during the holidays. Gray complained, but the prospect of a better nights sleep won him over. And he didn't regret his decision. Now when he got back, tired from working, he had a nice comfy futon to sleep on.

"Five more minutes, then I'll get ready for work." Gray groans.

"Gray-sama said that ten minutes ago." Juvia pouted.

"Fine, fine." Gray sits up. Ever since her fainting at the lights show, Juvia seemed to be completely fine. She was the same as ever, no worrying about the fortune telling.

"Does Gray-sama know what day it is?!" Juvia bounces.

"No?"

"Christmas Eve! Christmas is tomorrow!"

"Wow? Really? Time flies. I'm gonna get dressed now."

"Don't brush it off! We don't have a Christmas Tree! Santa won't come!" Gray blinks. Juvia was like a little kid.

"We don't even have a chimney. How will Santa even get in?"

"Because he's magic!" Gray sighs.

"We'll figure something out. For now let's just get to work."

Juvia was definitely in the holiday spirit today. It was strange seeing her like this. There wasn't much Gray could really say, especially since there were tons of last minute shoppers keeping him busy. Eventually noontime rolled around and Ultear and Meredy came to help. That was Gray's break too, so he was relaxing in the work room.

"Is it Gray-sama's break?" Juvia looks up from her jewelry work. She was incredibly crafty, much better than Lyon and Gray originally were.

"Yeah." Gray sits down in a spare seat. Juvia's face lights up.

"Juvia will be right back!" Juvia places her beads down and rushes out of the room. A few moments later she returns with a plastic bag. "Juvia made Gray-sama lunch!"

"Wow! Really? You didn't have to!" Juvia hands him a few plastic containers. When he opens the first one he was really surprised. Surprised was an understatement... "Juvia... This lunch..."

"Is it something Gray-sama doesn't like?"

"No. It looks good, but... I'm not comfortable eating something with my own face on it..." Gray sighs. She had made him a sandwich and she cut it and decorated it to look like his face. It was kinda creepy, but the notion was nice... Probably...

"Ah sorry! Juvia thought it'd be fun to make something customized for Gray-sama and Juvia." Gray looks over to Juvia's meal. Hers really did look like herself. "If Gray-sama won't eat it-"

"No I'll eat it! It's just a little weird..." Gray starts taking off the cold cuts designed to look like his face. "So... Change of subject, to get my mind off of eating my own face, Christmas is tomorrow." Juvia's face lights up like a christmas light.

"Juvia is so excited! Ur even invited Juvia over for Christmas dinner! And Santa will come tonight and give gifts!"

"Did you make a list for him?" Gray asks, deciding to indulge in her for a bit.

"Yes! Juvia asked Santa to allow her and Gray-sama to be together forever!" This statement made Gray blush. She was definitely like a little kid.

"Anything material? Like jewelry or clothes or something?"

"Um... Nope! Juvia will be fine as long as she's with Gray-sama! Juvia even got Gray-sama a present!"

"You got me something?" Gray felt bad since he didn't do the same.

"Of course! Gray-sama has been so nice to Juvia!" Gray stands up.

"Do you think you can get a ride home? I've gotta do something after work."

"What is Gray-sama doing?"

"Just meeting with a friend. That reminds me, I should call them to see if everything's all set." Gray walks outside and takes out his phone. He scrolls through his contacts and selects Natsu's number. It rings for a few seconds before it picks up.

"Hey Ice Princess." Natsu's voice comes from the other end.

"No time Flame Brain. Do you have any extra Christmas decorations?"

"Um... I think?"

"I need them."

"Why? Wait, don't tell me! Gray the Scrooge was visited by four ghosts and learned the true meaning of Christmas!"

"He was visited by three ghosts."

"Four. I'm counting his dead partner, Marley."

"Ok A Christmas Carol aside, can you help me get a tree and decorate it?"

"Do I have to?"

"Yes. I'll explain everything later. I'll be at your house after work at seven. Bye."

"Underpa-" Gray hangs up before Natsu can say anything else. He was going to get Juvia's present.


	9. Chapter 9

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" the pinkette shivered beside Gray.

"A, uh, friend is coming over tomorrow and she said how she wanted to see a Christmas Tree." Gray explains. Natsu didn't look convinced.

"Why didn't she ask her parents?"

"Because... Her mom is allergic to Christmas trees?" Natsu still didn't look convinced, but he was quickly distracted by a strange little meow. A moment later Natsu pulls a blue cat out of his hoodie.

"See even Happy is freezing!" Natsu holds the cat out with his gloved hands.

"Why did you bring Happy?!"

"Because he wanted to come!"

"How do you know that?! Cats can't talk!"

"Well you don't know Happy like I do!"

"Just out your cat away and help me pick a tree." Gray groans. Natsu placed Happy on his head. It didn't really help with the stares, but at least the blue cat wasn't distracting Natsu as much. Gray scanned the trees looking for the perfect one.

"Hey Scrooge! Look at this tree!" Natsu calls. Gray rolls his eyes at Natsu's latest nickname. When he walks over to Natsu, he finds a small brach sticking out of the ground.

"Are you joking?"

"It's the tree from Charlie Brown Christmas!" Natsu cheers. Gray kicks the branch over. It was only being supported by the snow Natsu gathered around it so it fell over lamely. "You ruined Christmas!"

"Just help me find a tree and you can leave!"

"Fine. There's that one, it looks like it'll fit into your house and it's small enough so we can still cover it in decorations." Natsu points to a tree a little taller than them and an arm length wide.

"Thanks." When he wasn't being a jerk, he was pretty nice and helpful. Although being Natsu, those times are rare.

* * *

"Gray-sama! Wake up!" A certain bluenette's voice rings through his ears. "Santa came! Santa really came!" Gray groans and rubs his eyes. Juvia was excitedly jumping up and down, pointing at the Christmas tree.

"Great..." Gray was up late last night trying to decorate the tree with Natsu. It took longer than it should since he was decorating the tree with _Natsu_.

"Gray-sama slept out here last night, did you see him?!" Gray sits up in bed with a yawn. He decided to humor her.

"Yeah, Santa Claus and I go way back."

"Really?! Juvia wishes she could meet him!"

"Maybe I'll introduce you two next year. Now I'm gonna make some pancakes for our Christmas breakfast, sound good?" Juvia's eyes sparkle. It was her favorite kind of breakfast. After all it was what they ate when she first arrived. He started mixing pancake batter when Juvia walks into the kitchen.

"Gray-sama these two were under the tree and are addressed to Juvia!" Juvia was holding two packages.

"Yeah? Why don't you open them?"

"But it's not fair! Santa gave Juvia presents, but not Gray-sama!"

"I told him I didn't need anything. Besides the one on the left is from me."

"Then Juvia will open that one first." Juvia sets the one on the right down. She eagerly tears open his gift. She squeals at the sight of the blue hat. "Gray-sama didn't have to!" She eagerly puts it on. It was a blue Russian style hat with white fur lining and a little flower clip in the fur.

"Yeah well you pretty much live here now and you're a close friend, so why not? It's not a big deal." It was a big deal. He had to fight last minute holiday shoppers to get that hat. After getting the tree, Gray brought Natsu to a store to get a simple gift. Natsu had decided to stay behind in the car while Gray went inside. It was awful, just awful... Natsu was laughing his head off when Gray got back. He had his coat, but his shirt had gone missing somewhere in the store. It was a bad trip...

"Juvia will get Gray-sama's gift!" Juvia chirps. She runs into the bedroom. Gray continues working on the pancakes. A few minutes later a soft cloth is wrapped around his neck. He looks down to see a gray knitted scarf.

"Juvia when did you-?"

"Juvia remembered she could knit so during her free time she would knit Gray-sama's scarf." She smiles. "Now Gray-sama can always feel Juvia's warmth!" Gray blushed a little and ruffles her hair.

"Thanks."

It's been a month since Juvia crashed into his life. Only one month. Although he was annoyed by her at first, she quickly became a close friend. Who knows what'll happen in the months to come, but Gray knew they were going to be just fine.

* * *

"You're saying you found one of them?!" The white haired man yells at Cana. The two were in the office.

"Yeah. My cards did say I would meet with an old friend." Cana laughs.

"Well why didn't you send her back?!" He yells.

"I tried, but she fainted instead of being sent back."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she doesn't want to go back, she wants to stay on Earth."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Probably her loss of memories played a factor, or perhaps it's the human she was with..." Cana shrugs.

"Human?!"

"Yeah. She was with a guy."

"We need to get her back immediately!" The white haired man was about to rush out.

"Calm down old man. There's nothing we can do. My cards say their fates have become entwined and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I see... Your cards are always correct." The man sighs. "For now is there anything we can do?"

"Since the New Year's coming, I actually have to work and can't go to Earth for a few weeks. But I read the fortunes of both Juvia and the guy. We need to prepare for what Jose has coming. And that guy's memories will come back."

"Whose?"

"Um... What was his name...? Y'know one of Jose's."

"I see... This is something we should really prepare for." The old man sighs. "Lay out the weather patterns as quickly as you can and get back to Earth. Try to find the rest and prevent the oncoming disaster. I'll send more people down when I can."

"Got it Master!" Cana salutes for no reason and leaves the office. She held a single card in her hand. The death card. There was no way she could tell him. No way she could've told Gray...


	10. Chapter 10

"Gray there better be a good excuse for why you didn't bring your assignment!" the english teacher yelled.

"Um... Well... I forgot to do it?" Gray responds. Gajeel was across the room, trying not to laugh.

"So you're saying nothing interesting happened over your vacation?" the teacher challenges.

"Um... Pretty much? All I really did was work." Of course that was a lie. Juvia played a big part in his vacation, but he didn't want to mention her because there'd most likely be more questions. The bell rings saving him from an almost certain demise. The teacher sighs.

"Have it in tomorrow or it'll be counted as a zero." Gray nods, grabs his bag, and rushes out of the classroom.

"Hey stripper." Gajeel sneers when Gray leaves. "You're gonna be in big trouble."

"Shut up Gajeel. I barely did anything over vacation, you can't blame me."

"Yeah well sucks to be you." he laughs. "Hey did ya hear? Two new students are coming next week."

"Yeah it feels like everyone is talking about it." Of course he knew because the babbling bluenette wouldn't stop talking about it. He was glad that she was excited, but he was more worried her hopes would be crushed when she realizes how awful school is. But then again, maybe she was ignorant enough to think it's fun, but Gray wasn't betting on it.

"Wanna play a prank on their first day?" Gajeel asks. Gray bites his lip. He didn't want to see Juvia the victim of one of Gajeel's pranks. She was most likely going to be having a bad enough time without a prank.

"Nah, let's not." Gajeel stares at Gray like he had two heads.

"Are you feeling alright? You've never passed down a prank before!"

"I was just thinking that Ur would kill me and probably cut my pay if I got detention. I'm a bit broke right now so money is a must." it wasn't a lie. If he got caught, Ur would be furious.

"Whatever, your loss." Gajeel shrugs. "Anyways, I've been meaning to ask, you signing up for football again this year?"

"Maybe." Gray shrugs. Gajeel was the football team captain, known as Black Steel Gajeel since he was rarely knocked over and when he tackled, you could get seriously injured. A few years ago, Gajeel had dragged Gray into football. Gray did find he actually enjoyed it and became one of the star players. Of course that made his popularity soar, especially during season. Although, now he wasn't so sure since he had no idea how Juvia would react to his popularity.

"Geez you've gotten boring. I'm gonna drag you to tryouts wether you like it or not."

"Isn't that what you always do?" Gray rolls his eyes. "Anyways, I'm going to my next class. See ya."

* * *

"I'm home!" Gray calls. He expected the cheery Juvia to come running to him, or at least yell a greeting. Neither of them had work today so Juvia was definitely at home. He sighs before going to the bedroom. Juvia was asleep at the desk surrounded by papers and books. Gray sighs again before shaking her awake. Juvia bolts up, looking around wildly.

"Oh! Gray-sama! Welcome home." she yawns.

"Did you stay up all night again?" Gray asks. Since Juvia was starting school soon, she had years of knowledge to be made up. Ur had given her a week long vacation to study and (hopefully) catch up with the rest of the class. The only problem was that Juvia would stay up all night and day to work. This meant that she often fell asleep and was less attentive overall.

"Yes..." Juvia yawns again. "But Juvia is almost complete with this book!" Juvia sleepily holds out a practice workbook.

"Keep up the good work, but remember to sleep, OK?"

"Got it..." The doorbell suddenly starts ringing furiously. Gray sighs.

"I'm going to get that. Wait here, K?" Gray leaves the room. He makes his way to the front door and opens it. A familiar, and not pleasing, mop of pink hair was the first thing he saw. "No." Gray closes the door on Natsu.

"Wai- ow!" Natsu screams. Gray opens the door again and Natsu is hopping on one foot and holding the other. "Who closes the door on somebody's foot?!"

"Who puts their foot in front of a closing door?!"

"Now you have to let me in and give me some ice!"

"You injured yourself!"

"I just need some ice! You seem to have plenty in your heart."

"Ouch that's harsh man." Gray feigns hurt.

"Yeah well-"

"Natsu." a feminine voice comes from behind Natsu. Gray raises an eyebrow and looks behind Natsu. A girl with golden hair stood behind him.

"Oh! Sorry Luce!" Natsu laughs nervously and puts his foot back on the ground. Apparently it wasn't actually hurt, he was faking it. "Gray, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Gray."

"Nice to meet you." Lucy smiles.

"Likewise. So you finally got a girlfriend?"

"What?! Luce isn't my girlfriend!" Natsu yells. "She's my friend that's a girl!"

"Whatever you say, man." Gray holds up his hands in surrender. "So why are you introducing me to her?"

"It's complicated. Can we come inside?" Gray rolls his eyes.

"Fine, I guess you can." Gray gestures for them to enter. Natsu walks in, throws off his shoes, and immediately makes himself at home. Lucy on the other hand, politely thanks him before scolding Natsu. "Can I get you guys a drink?" Natsu opens his mouth, but Lucy cuts him off.

"We're fine, thank you!" she smiles. Gray shrugs before going to the kitchen to pull a chair from there to the living room.

"So tell me why you're introducing me to Lucy?" Gray asks. Natsu and Lucy exchange looks.

"He's your friend." Lucy says. "I mean we just met today."

"OK fine. So Lucy is one of the new kids joining school next week."

"Oh cool. See ya around then." Gray responds. Lucy gives a polite smile.

"But I have basketball stuff. Do you think you can drive Lucy home the days I have practice." Natsu asks. Gray rolls his eyes.

"You came all the way to my house just to ask that?!"

"Sorry, but I mean Lucy doesn't know anybody and I doubt Gajeel would do it!"

"But why couldn't you call me or something? I don't even know where she lives!"

"I live with Natsu." Lucy replies.

"Thank you, Lucy... Wait you live with Natsu?!"

"That's the complicated part!" Natsu responds. "Yeah she lives with Igneel, Happy, and I! Got a problem with that?!"

"No! I'm just surprised is all!" A sudden creaking of the door, turns all heads towards the bedroom door. The wavy haired bluenette stood there, frozen in her spot.

"S-Sorry! Juvia just wanted to know what all the yelling was!" Juvia stammers, clearly embarrassed by being put on the spot.

"Um... No... It's fine..." Natsu responds, clearly surprised and puzzled by this strange girl. Lucy looked even more shocked.

"Juvia?! Juvia is that you?!" Lucy stands up and rushes over to the bluenette.

"Lucy?" Juvia asks. Gray and Natsu exchange looks, neither of them knew how to respond.

"Thank Mavis you're safe!" Lucy envelops Juvia in a hug.


	11. Chapter 11

"Stupid Gray!" Natsu mutters under his breath. "Thinking he's so high and mighty that he can leave school early?" Natsu kicked a pile of snow. It was freshly fallen powder snow so it blew into the air like a soft cloud.

"Hey sweetie, why don't you come with us?" somebody says. Natsu knew it wasn't directed towards him, so he continued walking.

"Let go of me you creep!" an unfamiliar feminine voice yells. Natsu understood some flirting, but this sounded like a desperate cry. Whipping around he saw Bora holding the arm of an unfamiliar blonde. The blonde was struggling from his grasp. Natsu immediately slipped his bag off and threw it into the snow.

Bora was one of those surprisingly popular people. There were no real good qualities about him, yet the girls of the school and even further were all over him. This blonde was actually one of the seemingly few girls who weren't in love with him at first sight.

"Bora," Natsu grabs his arm, making Bora let go of the girl "what do you think you're doing?"

"Oh? Pinky, it's so bold of you to stick up for this stranger." Bora mocks.

"Well you don't know her either."

"Of course I know her! She's my girlfriend, right sweetheart?" the blonde glares at Bora.

"I don't know him. I was just walking around when he came up and grabbed me." the blonde says.

"Is this true, Bora?" Natsu grabs Bora's collar.

"What? I don't know what she's talking about!"

"Bora! Tell the truth!" Natsu's grip on Bora's collar tightens. He was quickly losing patience.

"Fine! She's telling the truth! Happy now?" Natsu releases his grip on Bora's collar. Bora snickers a little, but it's cut short by Natsu's fist.

"C'mon let's get you somewhere safer." Natsu grabs the blonde's wrist and guides her away. Visions of summertime's heat, oceans, cicadas, and summer in general flashed through Natsu's mind.

"Where are you taking me?" her voice cuts through the images. It was laced anger and disgust.

"I'll bring you home. Where do you live?" the girl was about to open her mouth when an abrupt yell cuts her off.

"Natsu Dragneel!" an unpleasant, ear piercing yell rips through the air. This caused a shiver to go up Natsu's spin.

"Y-yes?" Natsu gulps and turns around sheepishly. He knew just what the teacher wanted.

* * *

"Natsu what were you thinking?!" Igneel roared. The red haired man paced back and forth, allowing glimpses of the multitude of scars on his body. "First I get a call saying that you're suspended then next you come home with a girl!"

"Sorry..." Natsu mutters. Natsu sat on the floor of the living room with the blonde sitting next to him.

"I'm not angry," Igneel starts. "I'm disappointed."

"It's not my fault though..." Natsu grumbles.

"Normally I would listen, but I have to go to work." Igneel sighs as he grabs his coat off of a nearby chair. "We'll discuss this later." He leaves without another word.

"Sorry Lucy, Igneel's not usually like this." Natsu grumbles. Natsu had found that the blonde's name was Lucy Heartfilia. She had no place to go so he had thought it would be a good idea to bring her to his house, but he hadn't planned on Igneel being so mad.

"It's fine. I'm just glad to have a warm place, even if it's for a little while." Lucy replies. She was wearing a short blue pleated miniskirt and a sleeveless white blouse with blue lining and a thick stripe of blue running across it. The only thing that seemed to be fitting for winter was a pair of leather boots, but they were leather... "So what does your dad do for work?"

"He does some kind of metalworking with his friend, Metalicana."

"Metalicana? In metalworking? That's a strangely fitting name."

"Nah it's just what everybody calls him. Although I don't know what his real name is... I'm not sure his own foster son knows either." Lucy giggles a little at this. "Hey! Wanna see something cool?"

"Sure?" she responds. Natsu jumps up and rushes out of the room. A moment later he returns with a little ball of fur. A ball of blue fur...

"This is my cat, Happy!" Natsu proudly displays the blue cat. It meowed. At least it made a noise. Happy's meows sounded like it was saying 'Aye.' It's kind of strange until you get used to it.

"Why is it blue?" Lucy asks.

"Because I dyed him blue."

"Is that a good idea?"

"Well I mean he's pretty used to it now."

"But why is his stomach and tip of his tail white?"

"Happy's naturally white, but when I first used to dye him the stomach area would rub off a lot. And when dying the tail I used to hold the tip."

"The only part of that statement that doesn't make sense is why you would dye him."

"Because I need an awesome partner and my awesome partner needs to be different so I dyed Happy! Now we're an awesome duo!"

"That still doesn't sound right..."

"Happy is my cat though!" Natsu puts Happy back on the ground. Happy curiously walks over to Lucy and sniffs her. "I think Happy likes you!"

"Y-You think?"

"Yeah!" Natsu goes to sit across from her. "So what do you remember?" Lucy thinks a moment.

"I was falling from a great height. Then I found myself in the cold. I can remember the names of some things, but not everything." Lucy recalls. "After that I was wandering around for a while when I was stopped by that creep. Then you saved me, I waited for you, then we came here."

"That's pretty troublesome... With how angry Igneel is, I'm not sure he's gonna let you stay."

"I can tell..." she starts petting Happy. "Well I'll leave so you don't get in anymore trouble-"

"No! You're a guest so you should stay!" Natsu urges her to stay. "Besides I think Happy likes you!"

"But you said-"

"C'mon Luce!"

"L-Luce?"

"We have a guest bedroom you can stay in! And some spare clothes!"

"Natsu... You're too kind..."

"Now c'mon! I'll give you the tour!" Natsu grabs Lucy's hand and pulls her up.


	12. Chapter 12

Lucy sighs before entering the video game store. She immediately spots the pinkette. Natsu was browsing the shelves full of video games.

"Natsu." she walks over to him. It's been a few weeks since meeting Natsu. Igneel happily allowed her to stay, especially since she was the only one of them with some sort of cooking or cleaning skills, although he did ground Natsu for a while.

"Hey Luce! You done shopping?" Natsu turns towards her and smiles.

"The question is, are you done? You ditched me in there, y'know." Lucy sighs.

"But I wanted to get a game." Natsu shows her the game in his hand.

"That just makes you even worse!" Lucy practically shouts. She didn't want to attract the attention of anybody else in the store.

"But it's Dragon Age..." Natsu pouts.

"Don't you have enough dragon related things at home?" it was true. Natsu had quite a bit of dragon related things.

"But... Dragon Age..." Natsu pouts some more. Lucy sighs.

"Fine do what you want. I got myself a magazine anyways."

"You're awesome Luce!" Natsu grins.

"Yeah, yeah. How long are you gonna call me Luce anyways?"

"Forever! It's shorter than Lucy."

"It's only one syllable less..." Lucy sighs. "Again do what you want. At least it's better than Luigi." For some odd reason, the first few days Lucy stayed at the Dragneel house Natsu couldn't remember her name and called her Luigi. Seriously, Luigi! It's not even close to Lucy! For a few days after that, Natsu got her name correct then switched to 'Luce' like when he begged her to stay.

"I can start calling you Luigi again."

"I just said not to!" Lucy hisses. Natsu grins before going to pay for the game. Lucy follows him to the cash register where a guy rung up Natsu's game.

"You're such a great girlfriend for coming with your boyfriend." the cashier says to Lucy. "My girlfriend won't even step foot into a video game store." Lucy froze. Her?! Natsu's girlfriend?!

"What?!" Lucy asks. She was both angry and mortified. Natsu just laughs it off.

"This is my friend that's a girl, not my girlfriend." he laughs.

"Oh well sorry. Well we hope to see you two again." the cashier hands Natsu a bag with the game in it. Natsu has to pull Lucy out of the store. Once a safe block away, Lucy starts walking on her own.

"That guy thought we were dating!" Lucy hisses.

"Luce..."

"Who would think we're dating?!"

"Luce calm down..."

"I can't believe anybody would think that!"

"Luce, I thought you had amnesia. How do you know what dating is?"

"I don't know! I know what things are but I don't know why or how I know! Great! Now I'm angry AND confused!"

"Ok Luce, just calm down. Why don't we get fish for Happy?"

"I'm not going to a fish market!" Lucy threw her hands up. "Smelling like fish is totally what I need right now! And if you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic!"

"Sorry. Let's go home then. I'm sure Igneel will be home soon." Lucy sighs.

"You're right." she sighs again to calm herself some more. "Let's go."

* * *

Lucy read the magazine intently. She had heard of the model Mirajane Strauss through some forums and stuff on the internt. Mirajane was a beautiful model. Through interviews she seemed like the nicest person. Beautiful and nice, something every guy aimed for and every girl wanted to be.

"Hey Luce, whatcha' reading?" Natsu comes from behind and takes the magazine from her hands.

"Hey!" Lucy sits up. She hears Natsu gulp.

"You're looking at Mira?"

"How do you know about Mirajane?" Lucy grabs the magazine back. It was easy since Natsu had loosened his grip on it tremendously. "She's super beautiful and kind! I even hear she's an amazing cook!" Natsu suddenly shudders.

"I used to have nightmares that she'd chop me up and serve me as dinner to her family and no one would ever know." Natsu says. He had a look as if he was remembering something bad.

"Wha-? I mean why? She only came into modeling last year."

"You don't know where's she's from, do you?"

"Um, I heard it was kind of far away." Natsu shakes his head.

"Yeah, well originally. She moved into town many years ago and I knew her."

"You knew Mirajane Strauss?!" Lucy's eyes light up. Natsu nods. "You gotta introduce me to her!"

"Really? The only contact I have with her is through her brother though."

"Her brother?"

"Yeah he's in my class..."

"Oh! That makes sense as to why you know her!" Lucy chirps.

"Yeah..." Natsu had a distant look in his eyes. "Well I'm gonna book it. Night!" Natsu shuffles past Igneel who gives him a strange look.

"Lucy, good news! You're going to school!" Igneel announces.

"Huh?"

"Well you think I'm gonna let a freeloader stay here?" Igneel laughs. "You'll be starting in the middle of January. If I were you, I'd start studying so you're not behind."

"Really? Thank you Igneel." Lucy smiles politely. She goes back to reading her magazine. Suddenly a perfect plan was hatched in her head. Study hard, get good grades, become popular because of her amazing looks, make Mira's brother fall for her, date for a few years, get married, and then she and Mira would be sisters in law! Family! If not she could probably find a cute guy. It was a perfect plan! Lucy giggles. Igneel just raises an eyebrow, but doesn't ask.

* * *

Lucy stretches. She had been sitting at her desk for a while now. For weeks she had studied and next week she would finally be at school! Checking her phone, it was around 1:50. Natsu would be home any minute. Her adorable phone was a Christmas present from Igneel, who told her she would need one. Natsu had gotten her a set of special key keychains she had seen in a magazine once. He had only gotten her 10 of the limited edition gold zodiac keys, although Lucy was still grateful for them. He also got her a few of the regular silver keys, including Canis Minor which Lucy had wanted. Natsu was really sweet when he wasn't barging into her room. Deep down he was a good gu-

"Hey Luce!" the door to her room swings open, revealing none other than the pinkette himself.

"Knock before you enter someone's room!" Lucy yelled back. Of course he did this on a daily basis. Sometimes it was more than once a day and sometimes it was at bad times like when she was changing or coming back from a bath. It was a strange habit Natsu had developed where he spent more time in her bedroom rather than his own.

"No time! We need to go to my friend's house now!"

"Friend?" Lucy was sort of hoping he was talking about Mira's brother, but she wasn't getting her hopes up. "Wait shouldn't you be at school?!"

"I have a study and senior privileges! Also we're going so I can get you a ride." Since Igneel worked and Natsu had basketball, Lucy didn't have a way to get home after school. Natsu insisted on finding someone who could drive her, even though Bora was expelled (it wasn't because of what happened with Lucy. Rumor has it that he had some forbidden things and was expelled).

"Natsu I'm fine just walking home-"

"Nope! I know someone who doesn't do anything after school except work! Now let's go!" Natsu drags Lucy out of the house.

* * *

This was Natsu's "friend?" Lucy stared as Natsu pretended to be injured and threw some mean remarks at the black haired guy at the door. The two certainly didn't look like they got along.

"Natsu." Lucy warns before their insults got any further.

"Oh! Sorry Luce!" Natsu laughs. "Gray, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Gray."

"Nice to meet you." Lucy smiles. She hoped Gray was nicer than he looked.

"Likewise. So you finally got a girlfriend?" Lucy froze. She took it all back. She didn't catch the next few exchanges, she was still caught on the girlfriend part. Next thing she knew, Natsu was going inside and making himself at home.

"Oh! Thank you for letting us in!" Lucy politely thanks. She follows Natsu in and scolds him for making himself so much at home. Natsu just rolls his eyes when Gray goes to grab a chair.

"We may not seem like it, but we're friends. Frenemies to be exact." Natsu smiles.

"So tell me why you're introducing me to Lucy?" Gray asks. She and Natsu exchange looks.

"He's your friend." Lucy says. "I mean we just met today." Natsu starts explaining the situation and in a minute or two, the two "friends" were yelling at each other. The door creaks open, revealing a blue haired girl. She looked familiar...

"S-Sorry! Juvia just wanted to know what all the yelling was!" the girl stammers. It suddenly clicked with Lucy. Juvia. Juvia Loxar. She couldn't remember everything, but she suddenly remembered Juvia. Her friend, the girl she was trying to protect from something before they fell. Lucy couldn't remember what she was trying to protect Juvia from, but it must've been something bad because a wave of shock and relief washed over her. Before she knew what she was doing, she called out her name.

"Juvia?! Juvia is that you?!" Lucy stands up and rushes over to the bluenette.

"Lucy?" Juvia asks. Another wave of relief washes over Lucy.

"Thank Mavis you're safe!" Before she even knew what she was doing, Lucy pulled Juvia into a tight hug. All she knew was that her friend was safe.


	13. Chapter 13

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You two know each other?!" Gray asks in disbelief.

"Sort of." Lucy replies. "I don't know how, but I just know Juvia."

"Juvia is the same." Juvia answers sheepishly.

"I don't get it." Natsu says.

"Well... Um..." Lucy thinks a moment. "It's kind of like if you hear the title of a song and you recognize it and you know you've heard it hundreds of times, yet you just can't remember the tune or the lyrics. Or vice versa, if you hear the lyrics and or tune of a song, but you just can't remember the name of it. It's like that. You know it, but you just don't remember it."

"I still don't get it. Did you guys sing a song together or something?" Natsu asks.

"Ignore him for he... Yeah he's dumb." Gray sighs.

"I already know that." Lucy sighs. "Let's just say it's woman's intuition."

"Ok so I guess clue one to your memories, huh Juvia?"

"Gray-sama is right." Juvia smiles slightly.

"Oh and Lucy, what we were talking about earlier, I'll do it."

"Really? Thank you!" she runs over and gives Gray a hug. Juvia gasps slightly. Was Lucy after Gray? Does that make them rivals? Rivals in what? Love of course! Lucy was Juvia's love rival! Juvia glares at the back of Lucy's head. When she separates from Gray, Lucy turns back towards Juvia. "Juvia what's wrong?"

"Oh! Nothing! Juvia needs to finish some work!" Juvia quickly excuses herself and scampers back to the bedroom. Gray and Lucy stare at her suspiciously.

"Acquiantenemy!" Natsu suddenly shouts. The two turn around to now look at Natsu.

"What?" Lucy asks.

"Gajeel is my acquiantenemy!" Natsu states proudly. "Gray you don't remember? I was trying to figure out how to describe Gajeel, my acquaintance that's my enemy."

"Why are you bringing it up now? Wasn't that weeks ago?! Don't tell me you've been thinking about it this whole time!" Gray groans.

"Pfft no! It just sort of popped into my head..." Natsu crosses his arms. "It's like you have no faith in me."

"And you're realizing this now?"

"I thought we were frenemies, but I guess I was wrong."

"Whatever." Gray rolls his eyes. "Now that we've figured out Lucy's ride issue, can you go home now?"

* * *

Juvia stood nervously in front of the school. Gray had arrived at school earlier while it was Ur that brought Juvia. She has never been this nervous! Well from what she can remember.

"Ready to go in Juvia?" Ur asks. Juvia nods and Ur leads her through the horde of students. Ur easily maneuvered through the crowd while Juvia would stumble every once in a while or bump into someone. Finally the two made their way to the office. Before Ur could touch the handle, the door opened and Lucy stepped out. Lucy smiles at Juvia while Juvia just nods to her love rival. The inside of the office was quite quaint. There were some seats, the secretary's desk and behind that were doors to other offices. The secretary looks up when the two enter.

"May I help you?" she asks.

"Yes, this is Juvia Loxar, the new student." Ur introduces Juvia.

"Oh! Well here's your packet." the secretary hands Juvia a yellow folder with her name written on it. "That has a schedule, map, and everything else you'll need. I believe you're in Mr. Clive's homeroom in room 2-12. That's down the hall and to the left. After that you may want to ask your classmates or teachers where things are. If you have any troubles, ask a teacher."

"Um... Juvia thinks she gets it." Juvia stares at the folder. Only part of it had registered with her and she was hoping to find Gray around to show her the way.

"Well good luck on your first day!" Ur smiles.

"Thank you." Juvia nods and leaves. By now the crowd of students had thinned and Juvia was able to easily find the room. When she enters, a scraggly looking man with orange hair sat at the desk. His feet rested on the desk itself and he didn't seem to mind the students talking. "Um..." Juvia approaches the man. He looks up. "Juvia's a new student."

"Oh? So you're the new one? I'm Mr. Clive, I'll be your homeroom teacher. Come here every morning, alright?" Mr. Clive introduces himself. Juvia nods. "Sit at any seat you like, K?"

"Thank you." Juvia scans the classroom for an empty seat. Her eyes light up when she sees a familiar pink haired girl in the back. Juvia quickly makes her way over. "Meredy!" Meredy looks up and smiles.

"Juvia! So we're in the same homeroom?" she asks.

"It seems so." Juvia sits down in the empty seat next to Meredy.

"So what classes do you have?"

"Um... Well..." Juvia shows Meredy her schedule.

"Oh! We have math together! And chemistry!" Meredy excitedly bounces. "You're taking Spanish? That's pretty cool, although I don't know anybody in that class... Well other than that you seem to have a pretty basic schedule."

"Can Juvia ask Meredy questions?"

"Of course! We're friends aren't we?"

"Um... Where is Juvia's first class?"

* * *

Juvia sighs when she places her bag on the ground. She sat next to Meredy, who was eating a bagged lunch. After seeing the cafeteria food, Juvia was glad she packed herself a lunch.

"So how has your first day been?" Meredy asks.

"Confusing. Juvia is really confused. And she doesn't know anybody except Meredy, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy. That's only four out of four hundred." Juvia dejectedly opens her brown paper bag. She had read that brown paper bags were typical, but looking around, people either had lunch boxes or bought a lunch. Only a handful of people had an actual brown paper bag.

"Quite a bit more than that..." Meredy bites her lip. "Well at least four people are better than nobody!"

"But that doesn't help Juvia's confusion!"

"Rough first day?" Lucy approaches, holding a tray of food. She places it across from Juvia. "Hi I'm Lucy." she introduces herself to Meredy.

"I'm Meredy." Meredy replies.

"Has Lucy's first say been as confusing as Juvia's?" Juvia asks.

"Not really... Apparently I'm actually ahead of the class. Well that's mainly in english." Lucy smiles apologetically. "And Natsu took me on a tour of the school after his practice yesterday."

"Lucy isn't helping... Juvia wants to see Gray-sama- oops! Juvia means Gray!" Juvia covers her mouth. Gray had told her not to call him Gray-sama at school. He said he didn't want people to think she's too weird.

"I'm sure you'll see him." Lucy says. "I've already seen Natsu... Twice."

"Really?"

"I'm sure too! Now eat up!" Meredy says. "Lunch goes by a lot quicker than you think!"

Meredy was right. The three girls talked about their first days or first days in the past (in Meredy's case). Juvia had just finished her meal when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Juvia sighs and throws the few remains of her lunch away before parting ways with her only friends. She tried her best to follow the map given to her in order to find english. When she arrives, the last class was still leaving. Juvia immediately recognizes a certain black haired guy. She waves a little to him and Gray gives a small smile back before turning back to his friend.

Then it happened again. That feeling like you know something, but you don't remember it. It was like how she felt with Lucy. But for some reason she knew there was no possible way for him to be here, yet he was standing right there. To Juvia, he looked a tad bit older than he should be, but she still knew who he was. A single name, his name, escaped her lips.

"Gajeel."


	14. Christmas chapter

"Merry Christmas!" the group chorused.

"Have fun kids!" the couple calls before shutting the door. The group walked down the walkway and started towards the next house. If you haven't guessed by now, they were going caroling. That's right Gray, Juvia, Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel, Levy, Jellal, Erza, Wendy, and Carla were all going caroling. They'd been doing this all day and by now if was well past sunset, yet not everyone was tired. No it was quite the opposite for some of them.

"Gray-sama this is so much fun!" Juvia cheers.

"Really?" Gray hadn't been entirely enthused about going, but Erza threatened him to go. She had threatened all of the guys (except Jellal who hadn't protested) to go. They had gone to many houses by now and had only gotten cookies or something else afterwards at like three houses.

"Let's go to another house!" Wendy cheers, holding Carla like a stuffed animal.

"One more. I'm getting pretty hungry." Lucy comments.

"Luce you eat too much." Natsu states like it was an everyday thing.

"Hey!"

"After this house let's go back to Gray's house and drink hot cocoa!"

"Why is it always my house...?" Gray rolls his eyes.

"But isn't it fun to have everyone over?" Juvia smiles.

They were able to get through one more house before making their way back to Gray's. Within a few minutes of arriving, everyone was bundled in blankets watching a Christmas movie on tv.

"Caroling is so much fun!" Erza cheers.

"Didn't you freeze up half the time?" Jellal asks.

"What did you say Jellal?" her smile held a death threat.

"Nothing!"

"I wonder if we can do this every year." Levy says without looking up from her book.

"It was quite fun even though I had to pretend to be a stuffed animal." Carla sits on the floor next to Wendy.

"You guys seriously had that much fun?" Gajeel asks. "I never liked caroling or carolers."

"Same." Natsu says.

"Remember we never really had the chance to experience caroling in the past." Lucy sighs.

"Juvia had lots of fun!" Juvia cheers as she comes in carrying a tray of hot cocoa. Gray followed her holding two mugs in each hand. She places it on the ground in the middle of everyone. Eager hands grab at the cups making the tray empty in a matter of seconds. Gray hands the remaining cups to the ones who didn't get any from the tray before sitting down next to Juvia.

"Merry Christmas on three!" Natsu holds up his mug.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Th-"

 _Ding dong!_

The doorbell rings.

"I got it!" Gray stands up, walking to the door. He opens it finding none other than Cana there.

"Hey!" she waves.

"Hi Cana. Is there a reason why you're here?"

"Aw don't be a scrooge. It's Christmas! Lighten up!"

"Ok. Hey Cana, merry Christmas. Can you tell me why you're here?"

"That's good enough! Well obviously it's Christmas! A time to celebrate with friends and family! So that's why I brought a bunch of people here! Come on over guys!" Cana beckons. Gray squinted in the dark and was suddenly able to see figures emerging from it. He sighs and just keeps the door open. Cana grins and walks in.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" a familiar red head walks in after Cana.

"Mr. Clive!" Natsu immediately turns around, a big grin on his face.

"How're some of my favorite former students?" Gildarts grins back.

"I'm surprised it was your friend that invited us here and not you yourself, Gray." Lyon comes in to punch Gray on the shoulder.

"Oh come on now boys." Ur steps between them.

"It's Christmas so no fighting." Ultear steps inside with Meredy trailing behind her.

"Ultear! Meredy!" Jellal smiles.

"Meredy!" Juvia runs up to embrace her friend.

"It's so good to see you again!" Meredy hugs her back.

"This party is gonna be so manly!" an overly familiar voice shouts. He didn't even need to step in for people to know who he was.

"Yo! Elfman! Long time no see!" Natsu waves. Elfman walks in followed by Mira.

"Mira!" Lucy claps.

"Hi everyone!" Mira waves.

"Yo!" Laxus walks in. With Laxus here the next one was a given.

"Let's get this party started!" a short man with a loud voice walks in holding a giant bag of gifts.

"Master!" Juvia, Lucy, Levy, and Erza shout.

"It's nice to celebrate every once in a while." the next and final guest made almost everyone bow. "There's no need for formalities. Today is a day of celebration!"

"Wise words from our mistress." Master nods. "Well you heard her! Let's get this party started!"

With Gray's kitchen raided, the party was able to start. Laughing and talking filled the house. Not a single person stood alone. Cana even started a game of truth and dare since Gray wouldn't let her play spin the bottle. While many laughed at the ridiculous dares, Gray leaves the circle. He walks into the bedroom and sits on the bed, rubbing his temples a little. The muffled sounds seeped through the door and any crevice it could find. After a minute there was a momentary roar before it went back to slightly quiet. A second later the bed weighs down next to him.

"Why is Gray-sama alone?" Juvia asks.

"It's just a bit loud." Gray sighs.

"Well we have a lot of friends."

"We do, don't we?" he sighs again. "Can't believe how long we've known each other. Your first Christmas was us just eating pancakes."

"But we did that this morning too!"

"This year we went caroling with everybody and got sucked into a party. I think that's a lot different than your first year here."

"It is, but Juvia finds it a lot more fun now."

"Know what? I do too."

"Juvia is happy. Especially since Gray-sama is with her." she blushes.

"You still haven't changed." Gray smiles. "C'mon let's join the others." Gray stands up and leaves the room, Juvia following him. When he opens the door, Cana starts cheering.

"Hey! You two just stepped under the mistletoe!" she cheers. "You two need to kiss now!"

"U-U-Uh." Juvia was blushing madly. Gray was as well. But that didn't hold him back. He ignored the stares of all his friends and slowly leaned in. He left a quick little kiss on her lips. That was enough. Enough to make Juvia almost swoon and Lyon need to be held back by Meredy and Ultear. Cheers erupted from almost everybody. Natsu then jumps up onto Gray's couch (not without a complaint).

"Merry Christmas on three!" he shouts.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Merry Christmas!"

* * *

 **I don't usually do author's notes on this story, but today is an exception! I bet you're all wondering where the next chapter is. I'm working on it, but I've been busy (I literally wrote this chapter in a car). This takes place sometime after the events in this story is finished so I tried not to spoil too much of the future story in this special. Next and the most important part, thank you to everybody who has followed, favorited, and read this story! Finally, this is my heartfelt Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


	15. Chapter 14

"Gajeel." Juvia whispered. The name just slipped off her lips. Gajeel stopped in his tracks and looked back. Juvia quickly looked away. A moment later he walks away. Juvia let out a quick sigh of relief. She entered the classroom with the rest of her classmates.

"Hello, Juvia is a new student." Juvia introduces herself to the teacher. The teacher raises her eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who Juvia is." the teacher scowls.

"Juvia's name is Juvia." she points to herself.

"Are you speaking in third person?" Juvia nods. "Well I expect you to speak normally, young lady."

"This is how Juvia speaks..."

"Not in my classroom. Now find a seat and sit down. Class will be starting soon."

"Yes ma'am." Juvia shuffles to the back of the classroom and to an empty seat. The teacher started class. After a while, it just sounded like nonsense. She no longer understood the teacher's words. It was as if they were turning into something else entirely.

"Gajeel." Juvia stood in front of Gajeel. "Don't leave."

"Council's orders. Sorry rain woman." Gajeel shrugs a cloth bag onto his shoulder. She couldn't see his face clearly, but he seemed younger than how she saw him before entering the classroom.

"But... But Juvia will be alone... Aria, Sol, and Totomaru have left Juvia..."

"Geez, no water works, K?" he huffs. "I'll find a way to bust back into this place. You'll see. They'll all see."

"But when Gajeel leaves they'll- they'll-" she sniffles.

"Oi! I said no water works!" he ruffles her hair. "Like I said, I'll be back before you know it." a loud bell startles Juvia. The teacher turns around telling them their assignment. Letting out a sigh of relief for not being caught sleeping, Juvia grabs her things and leaves. Luckily it was the last class of the day and a study. Although the school was still confusing, Juvia was glad her study was in the library. The library was easy to locate for it stood near the entrance of the school. She easily passed through the doors of the library and looked around for a spot at a table. Her eyes light up when she sees Gray sitting alone.

"Can Juvia sit here?" Juvia asks. Gray looks up.

"Yeah go ahead. Careful of the sleeping idiot though." Gray points to where Natsu was asleep on the ground, using his backpack as a pillow.

"Does he always-?"

"Luckily, yes. It's the only time he'll be quiet." Juvia nods and sits at the chair by Natsu's feet.

"Does Juvia have to pretend not to know Gray?" Juvia whispers. Gray just shrugs.

"Hey I'm Gray."

"Juvia." she giggles. Gray returns it with a small smile.

"So how's your first day been?"

"Eventful..." Juvia drums her fingers on the table. "Juvia thinks she remembered something."

"Really? Tell me about it later, K?" Juvia nods. "Anything else?"

"Juvia is in Mr. Clive's homeroom with Meredy."

"Really? I heard that Mr. Clive is an awesome homeroom teacher. I didn't get the honor of having him for homeroom, but I had him for history."

"Juvia hasn't had him for class yet, but he seems like a good teacher."

"Lots of fun. He teaches freshmen and juniors. I wish you were here for freshmen year because when doing the medieval era, he made a trebuchet and launched watermelons."

"Woah."

"Yeah. He loves destroying stuff and mixes it in with history. I wouldn't be surprised if he reenacted a war with water balloons."

"Juvia can't wait!"

"Are there any classes you like so far?"

Gray and Juvia spent the study period, talking and laughing just like at home. Gray helped her with homework he claimed was easy. The bell rang and a few moments later, a surge of students rushed through the halls. Gray sighs and packs up his things.

"Stay here. I'm gonna find Lucy then we can go." Gray stands up. Juvia nods and starts gathering her things. Gray kicks Natsu in the side who wakes up almost immediately.

"Hey! What was that for!" Natsu sits up.

"School day's over. Go to your basketball stuff or bring your girlfriend home yourself." Gray rolls his eyes.

"Luce is not my girlfriend." Natsu growls. He notices Juvia sitting at the table. "Oh hey, you're Lucy's friend. You're uh... Julia."

"It's Juvia actually..."

"Ok I'll remember that... Probably. I'm Natsu."

"Anyways, flamebrain, do you know where Lucy is?"

"No clue."

"C'mon, let's go find her." Gray motions for him to follow. The two leave the library. Juvia waits patiently at the table, fiddling with pencils and doodling on pieced of scrap paper. A few minutes go by when someone comes to sit next to her.

"Hello." Juvia greets the student with a smile. It was a girl that wasn't in any of Juvia's classes.

"Hi, I see you're awfully close to Gray." The student gets straight to the point.

"Yes..."

"Well just a warning, stay away from him. He's nothing but trouble and will just break your heart in the end."

"Juvia... Doesn't think Gray is a bad person." Juvia fidgets, suddenly remembering what Cana said.

"It's just a warning. And remember, you're not the only one aiming for his heart."

"But Juvia's not-" the student stands up and leaves. Juvia sat there. Perhaps Cana's prediction was true... Perhaps her memories would come back and ruin everything.

"Hey Juvia." Juvia jumps when the subject of her thoughts comes from behind her. Gray and Lucy stood by the table.

"O-Oh Gray!"

"What's wrong? It looks like you saw a ghost or something." Lucy says.

"It's nothing. Let's get going." Juvia grabs her bag and paper with her doodles. The three leave the school. Gray leads them to his car. Before he could open it, a large gust of wind blows by. Juvia's page of doodles flew out of her hands and fluttered in the wind. "Juvia's paper!" She gasps and chases after it.

"Wait Juvia!" Gray calls after her. Juvia chases the paper to the other side of the parking lot. It stops at someone's feet.

"Ah! Juvia is so sorry! That's her's!" Juvia grabs the paper off the ground.

"I found you!" they shout. Juvia looks up to see a little girl with pink hair and red eyes. Pointy white wings grew from her ankles and wrists. The feathers seemed to burst out of her back.

"Who are you?" Juvia asks mesmerized by the wings and light wind that swirled around her.

"Oh! You don't remember me?" she asks. The wind died down and her wings disappeared. Her hair and eyes turned dark blue and brown respectively. "I'm Wendy! I've been looking for you Juvia!"


	16. Chapter 15

"Does Juvia know you?" Juvia stands up. Wendy looked around 12 years old so she shouldn't be going to a high school.

"I was sent to look for you and the other three!" Wendy responds. "I've been looking for a long time and I'm so glad I finally found you!"

"Juvia!" Gray calls. He and Lucy were running towards Juvia. Wendy gasps.

"Lucy! I've found two of you! It's my lucky day!" she claps. Gray and Lucy stop in front of the little girl.

"Um, who are you?" Gray asks.

"Are you lost?" Lucy bends down to Wendy's height.

"No! I'm not lost! Lucy I've been looking for you and Juvia! You must at least remember me! I'm Wendy! Wendy Marvell!" Wendy begs.

"I'm sorry, I don't. Both Juvia and I lost our memories."

"Huh?!" Wendy looked shocked. "B-B-But..."

"I'm sorry."

"No this isn't good! What am I gonna do?! What can I do?! I didn't know this would happen!"

"Hey calm down." Gray says. "I mean someone we met named Cana was surprised when she found out Juvia had no memories."

"Cana was here?! That means Master probably already knows! But he hasn't called me back! I really don't know what to do!"

"Wendy, right?" Juvia asks. Wendy nods. "Well why don't you come with us and we'll figure something out. Perhaps you can help us with our memories."

"O-OK." Juvia extends her hand and Wendy takes it.

* * *

Wendy was fast asleep. She seemed a little jittery when they brought her to the car, but within a few minutes, she was out like a lightbulb.

"What should we do about Wendy?" Juvia asks, looking at the sleeping girl. They had just dropped off Lucy and was driving back to Gray's house.

"Not sure. Bring her home, figure out where she lives, bring her there."

"What if she has no home? What if she's like Juvia?"

"I don't know. We'll figure something out, K?" Gray continues driving.

All the way home, Juvia was lost in thought. Gray hadn't seen what she saw. Wendy's hair had turned from pink to blue and her eyes from red to brown. Her wings had disappeared altogether. Then Wendy knows Cana. That means both of them were connected to Juvia's past!

"Oi Juvia!" Gray's voice cuts into her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Can you get the door?" Juvia looks over to see that he was carrying Wendy on his back.

"Oh right!" Juvia jumps out of the car and runs over to the door. She unlocks it using the spare key and holds open the door for Gray. Gray carefully walks into the house then places Wendy on his futon.

"Great so now I have two freeloaders."

"But Juvia works at Ur's too!"

"Whatever. I'm gonna grab a snack. Want anything?" he walks towards the kitchen.

"No thanks." Gray shrugs and walks away. Meanwhile Juvia sits on the floor next to Wendy. A moment later, Wendy stirred and opened her eyes, yawning. "Oh! Gray-sama! She's awake!"

"Huh? Where am I?" Wendy looks around.

"This is where Juvia's been staying. Is Wendy alright?" Juvia asks.

"Oh so this is where you've been." Wendy sits up and stretches. "No wonder I couldn't find you! My wind can't reach in here!"

"Wendy, who are you and how do you know Juvia?" Juvia asks. Gray enters the room holding a big bag of chips.

"You said she's awake?" Gray walks over. He sits down next to Juvia and offers her some.

"Um... Who are you?" Wendy asks.

"I'm Gray. I've been taking care of Juvia." he answers.

"Taking care of?"

"Yes." Juvia responds. "Juvia woke up a few months ago with no memories. Gray-sama took her in and she's been living with him since."

"O-Ok."

"Now it's Wendy's turn. Who is she?"

"My name is Wendy Marvell. I'm the head wind maker, the youngest one ever. Um... I was trained by Grandine until she retired. Unlike you, Juvia, I work almost every day and don't get a lot of rest. We met because you were in the rain department!"

"Rain department?"

"Uh... I don't know how to describe it. Well after you went missing, Master asked for people to go down and search for you four! I was the first person to volunteer and I haven't stopped searching for a long time! I guess I was much more tired than I thought!" she laughs.

"Wait, what do you mean by you were searching for four people?" Gray asks.

"I found Juvia and Lucy so that just means I'm looking for Erza and Levy!"

"Who?"

"Um... Well I can't describe who they are exactly. Master told me not to tell humans about them."

"You're not making sense."

"Gray-sama, perhaps Wendy's saying she's not allowed to tell you." Juvia clarifies.

"She's right. I wish I could say something, but I really can't."

"Well here's something you can tell me, I'm assuming you have no place to stay." Wendy nods. Gray sighs and stands up. "Well you can stay here for now, I guess."

"Really?! Oh thank you!"

"Yeah yeah. Juvia we need to go to work. Ur will be wondering where we are. Wendy you stay here until we get back."

* * *

"My lovely Juvia! I have returned!" Lyon announces when the two walk through the backdoor.

"Lyon-sama!" Lyon had gotten a new job meaning he would be at the shop less. To Gray that was a great thing. It meant not seeing Lyon nor hearing his proclamations of love to Juvia.

"Great you two are here!" Ur pops her head in. "How was your first day of school Juvia?"

"It was fine."

"Good. I know you just got here, but could you man the cash register?"

"Ok!" Juvia chirps, walking out to the front. She sat down at the register. It was obviously a slow day. Nobody was in the store. With no one around Juvia just watched the people outside walk by. After a while she started daydreaming about marrying Gray. It would be a beautiful wedding with everybody she knew. Although that was few, she would meet more people later!

 _Ding!_

The bell to the shop rang. Juvia snapped out of her daydreams.

"Welcome..." Juvia's greeting died mid-sentence. Standing there was none other than Gajeel!

"Hey this is where strip- I mean Gray Fullbuster works, right?" he approaches her.

"Yes it is. Juvia will go get him." Juvia hopped off her chair and went to the back room. When she peered in Lyon was standing there by himself. "Lyon-sama, where did Gray-sama go?"

"Why look for him when you have me, Juvia?" Lyon smiled at her.

"Because someone wants to see him."

"Oh. In that case he went with Ur to run some errands."

"When will he be back?"

"I don't know." Juvia sighs, going back over to Gajeel.

"He went to run some errands, but he'll be back later."

"Nah it's fine, I'll tell him at school." Gajeel grumbled. "You look familiar..."

"Huh? Juvia has never met you before." Juvia lied. Deep down she knew she had known him. It was obvious Gajeel had no idea who she was. Well maybe deep down he felt he knew her as well.

"No I've definitely seen you somewhere before."

"If you go to Gray's school perhaps you saw Juvia around? Juvia started school today!"

"Oh so you're one of the new students. Now I see why Gray didn't want me to play a prank on you. You're his coworker."

"You were gonna play a prank on Juvia?!"

"Gihi, sorry. It's just how I roll. I'm Gajeel by the way."

"Juvia."

"Yeah I know." Juvia froze up. Did Gajeel remember her?! Perhaps he could help her with her memories! "You keep saying your name. Kinda funny actually." Juvia's hopes were shattered.

"Juvia sees. This is just how Juvia talks."

"K. Well I hope to see ya around. Tell Gray I need to talk to him." Gajeel smirks. He waves before leaving the store. She stared after him. The day hadn't ended, yet Juvia was already physically and emotionally tired. Juvia just hoped there wouldn't be anymore eventful days like this.


	17. Chapter 16

"Wow Earth is so cool!" Wendy marvels at the snow as it falls past the iced window. Gray and Juvia had a snow day so they were at home with Wendy. It's been a little over a week since Wendy had joined them meaning February was fast approaching. "I've always had to work so I've never really had the time to see its beauty."

"After a while you get used to it." Gray says, handing her a cup of hot cocoa.

"I could never get used to a beautiful place like this! Can I go outside?"

"If you want, but it's gonna be cold."

"I'll just borrow your coat! You never seem to wear one anyways!" Wendy smiles. She was right. Gray almost never wore a coat outside.

"Fine. But don't blame me if you catch a cold!"

"OK!" Wendy skipped into the bedroom and returned with Gray's coat. It was clearly oversized on her but she seemed content. She opened the door, letting a gust of cold in. Luckily she quickly left and closed the door. Gray sighed and sat on the couch next to Juvia. Her face was twisted in a deep concentration. She's been at school for about a week and she's already being hounded by homework and projects. Luckily she has a few friends. Well if you count people she met before starting school she only has one new friend. That new friend being Gajeel. They seemed to have become great friends after Gajeel came to give a message (which Gajeel had forgotten).

 _Ring ring_

 _Ring ring_

 _Ring ring_

Gray sighs as the phone rings. Juvia didn't look like she was getting up anytime soon so it was Gray that had to grab it.

"Hello?"

"Yo ice princess! Lucy and I are coming over for a bit!" Natsu announces on the other side of the line.

"What?! Why?!"

"Well Igneel wanted us out of the house. That's why I decided to go to your house!"

"No! Natsu you can't come over."

"What? Why not?!"

"Because I don't want you to!"

"Oh. Well then you shouldn't look out your window."

"Wha- why not look out my wind-" Gray looks outside. Natsu stood on the curb by his car, waving. Lucy stood on the lawn talking to Wendy. "Natsu ask before you come to someone's house."

"Hey I'm not on your property! Lucy is! Blame her not me!"

"You're the one who wanted to come here without asking you idiot!" Gray could hear Lucy yelling from both outside and on the other end of the phone. Apparently Juvia heard it too and turned around.

"What is Lucy and Natsu doing here?" she asks.

"Fine come on in." Gray gave up and hung up the phone. A moment later Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy were at his door. "Call before you come over."

"No problem captain underpants." Natsu pats Gray's shoulder and walks in.

"Sorry Gray. I didn't know that Natsu hadn't called." Lucy apologizes.

"It's not your fault." Gray sighs. "Wendy it's been barely five minutes. Are you cold already?"

"Y-Yeah." she sneezed.

"Your hot cocoa is where you left it."

"T-T-Thanks." she shuffles back over to the windowsill where her cup sat.

"Luce told me about Wendy." Natsu says. "Looks like she's staying here. That's good for me since I'm not sure Igneel would let someone else stay with us."

 _Ring ring_

 _Ring ring_

"Oh what is it now?!" Gray groans, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Gray! Hope you're having a manly day!" a voice shouts on the other end. Gray immediately knew who it was.

"Hey Elfman what's up?"

"We still on for working on the project?"

"Ugh! I completely forgot! Sorry Elfman!"

"Nah it's ok. We can do it some other time."

"I'm not sure if there will be another time. I'm gonna be working after school all week. I have some friends over, but you can still drop by."

"That's manly! See ya in a few minutes!" Elfman hangs up the phone.

"Was that Elfman?" Natsu asks.

"Yeah he's coming over for a project." Gray explains. "That being said, Wendy you're Juvia's little sister."

"O-Ok." Wendy was still shivering.

"Elfman?" Lucy asks. "That's a strange name..."

"Elfman is the little brother of Mirajane Strauss." Natsu says.

"He's Mirajane's brother?!" little did they know that Lucy was about to start her plan. And little did they know that it would fall apart in seconds.

* * *

"He's Mirajane's brother?!" Lucy whisper shouts to Natsu. In front of her was an overly muscular supposed-to-be teen. He was the complete opposite of the delicate Mirajane Strauss. There was no way they could actually be related!

"Yup!" Natsu was clearly enjoying her reaction. "Hey Elfman!" Natsu walks over to high five the Strauss sibling.

"Yo Natsu!" Elfman high fives him. "Who are these manly people?"

"Elfman this is Juvia and Wendy." Gray points to the two girls girl. "Juvia is a new student at school and Wendy is Juvia's sister."

"Nice to meet you." Juvia smiles politely.

"Hello!" Wendy's head popped out of a bundle of blankets. She was curled up by Juvia on the couch.

"And this is Luce!" Natsu grins, side hugging said girl tightly. Lucy glared at Natsu before putting on a nice smile.

"Actually it's Lucy. I'm a new student as well. Nice to meet you." Elfman looks between Natsu and Lucy.

"Are... You two dating?" he asks. Natsu seemed unaffected by the question while Lucy looked completely mortified. Meanwhile Gray was trying his best to stifle his laughter.

"There's no way I'm dating him!" Lucy shouts, jumping away from Natsu. "Why does everybody think we're dating?!"

"Enough joking around." Gray wipes a tear from his eye. "Elfman we have a project to do."

"Yeah! It's gonna be completely manly!"

"You use manly too much..." Lucy sighs, wondering why she ever thought her plan would work out.

"Huh?" Elfman looked Lucy up and down. Lucy stiffened and began sweating. Maybe he didn't like her comment. "Why... Are you wearing... one of Lisanna's shirts?"

Lucy had no idea what he was talking about. It was a shirt Natsu let her borrow. It was a bit tight, but Natsu explained that it was a friend's shirt that was left at his house almost two years ago. Perhaps this friend was Lisanna? Lucy looks over to Natsu. Natsu had completely frozen up. For support she turned to Gray. He looked tense as well.

"I... Fell into the snow earlier and ruined my shirt so Natsu let me borrow this one." Lucy lied. "Who's Lisanna? I can return it to her if you like."

"I'm going home." Natsu announced abruptly.

"Natsu...?"

"Gray could you drive Lucy home?" Gray nodded. Natsu got up and grabbed his coat and boots and just left. A heavy atmosphere suddenly filled the room. It was as if a chilling wind passed through the room yet the door was closed.

"Elfman we should really get started on our project." Gray broke the silence.

* * *

"Gray... Why did Natsu look so upset?" Lucy asked. She poked at the mashed potatoes on he plate. After Elfman left, Gray suggested that Lucy stay the night so that Natsu had time to cool off. The four of them were now eating dinner, but Lucy didn't seem to have much of an appetite.

"You mentioned Lisanna, that's why." Gray answers like it was a fact.

"Who is this Lisanna anyways? Is it his ex or something?!" Lucy gripped her fork tighter.

"Juvia was wondering the same." Juvia says.

"Well... Lisanna is Elfman and Mira's younger sister." Gray answers.

"I didn't know they had another sister!" Lucy gasps. "Mirajane never mentioned it in any of her interviews or anything!"

"Well I don't blame her. You see Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna were parents died as well. They lived with a foster family up until last year when Mira finally became eighteen. We all met in this foster program thing at school. Natsu and Lisanna were best friends."

"So did they date or something?"

"No. They were best friends up until two years ago when... Lisanna died." Gray says with downcast eyes. All three girls looked at him with surprise. "She drowned and they couldn't find her body afterwards."

"That's horrible." Lucy whispers. Of course it was so quiet that everybody heard her.

"Well now that I think that all of our appetites are ruined," Gray stands up from the table. "why don't you guys watch a movie or something. They're in the bottom drawer of the desk in the room. Pick one out and if you have any questions I'll be here, cleaning up."

"Juvia will help!" Juvia jumps up.

"Thank you Gray!" Wendy stands up and runs towards the bedroom. She stops before leaving the kitchen. "You know... I think I've heard the name Lisanna before."

"It's not a common name so you probably heard a similar name before. Now leave so we clean up here." Gray shoos both her and Lucy out.

"Thank you for telling me, Gray. I'm going to apologize to Natsu tomorrow." Lucy smiles before leaving the kitchen.

"No problem Lucy." Gray smiles back.

"Love rival!" Juvia hisses under her breath.


	18. I'm (mostly) back!

**Hey everybody! I'm back! I'm going to start updates soon once I finish writing some more chapters so please wait a little longer! With my little hiatus over, I'm going to discontinue a few of my stories and delete a few that nobody reads (if anybody actually cares). On the bright side, within the next month or so I'll be bringing in two or three more stories! Two of which are Miraculous Ladybug and the other is Fairy Tail. Please check them out! I'll be putting more information up later! Thank you so very much for your patience! Until next time!**


	19. Chapter 17

**Even though I told myself to wait, I just couldn't and I had to get finish and get this chapter out. Just a cute little chapter to celebrate the end of my hiatus~**

* * *

"Wendy, I must go now."

"But Grandine!"

"I'm sorry Wendy. We will meet again, I promise."

Wendy sighs as the memory passes. It's been countless years since Grandine left, leaving the wind department to her. One of the reason she came to earth was to search for Grandine as well as the seasons. So far she hadn't picked up any traces of her. After finding Juvia and Lucy she spent the days looking for Grandine. Today as well she'd been looking. At the moment she was resting in the park.

"Hey!" a voice called, startling her and making her almost fall off her branch of the tree. Luckily she regained balance. "I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Wendy blinked and looked below her. A boy with dark hair stood beneath her tree.

"You... You can see me?" Wendy asks cautiously.

"Well of course. You're in a tree, it's hard not to."

"You're right," she laughs nervously. It was strange for someone to be able to see her when she swore she was invisible at the moment.

"So... Are you going to come down? It looks very cold up there," Wendy jumps down and lands softly on the ground.

"You're right, it is very cold."

"It's freezing out and you're wearing a dress! Of course it's going to be cold!" he was right, but she wasn't cold. Wendy had learned to wrap any warm air around her. If it was cold out, she always took some warm air from Gray's house. He never seemed to notice that his house was freezing cold when he got back from school.

"I'm not that cold."

"But you will be," he took the scarf hanging from his neck and wrapped it around Wendy. "There, is that better?"

Wendy blinked. This scarf was so much nicer and warmer than her own coat of warm air.

"Thank you."

"No problem," he smiled. A name was barked and he turned around. "I need to go. Bye!" he ran off.

"Wait!" Wendy tried calling, but he was already out of earshot. She smiled. Such a peculiar boy. This time she made sure she was invisible before catching the wind and riding it home.

"Romeo, where's your scarf?!" Macao frowned at his son.

"I gave it to a girl. She's right over there...?" Romeo pointed to where the girl had previously been, but she was nowhere to be found. "But she was right there..."

"You could've just said you lost it. Geez, let's get home before you catch a cold."

* * *

The next day Wendy sat on the same branch. After all, it was a comfy little branch.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called. Wendy looks down at the boy from yesterday.

"Oh hello!" she grins.

"Do you really like trees?" he asks. "Because I keep finding you there." Wendy jumps down from her branch and lands in front of him.

"Of course I love trees! They're great translators! The wind can't speak our language so the trees translates, but nobody listens."

"Is that from a storybook?"

"Um, something like that," she giggles. "Listen! You can hear the trees and the wind gossiping!"

"I only hear rustling," he frowns.

"Well that's them! They speak in low tones so others can't hear them."

"You're weird."

"Well of course I am! Isn't everybody weird in some way or another?" he laughs.

"You're right."

"You never introduced yourself yesterday."

"Oh, my name is Romeo," he sticks out his hand.

"I'm Wendy. Pleased to meet you," she shakes his hand.

"So Wendy, would the trees mind if I spoke to you instead?"

"I'm sure they won't mind," she giggles.

Romeo lead her through the park, pointing out his favorite spots and what he does. Wendy listened intently to her new friend. She had never really interacted with any humans other than Gray and Natsu, but they were an exception.

"So can you really talk to trees?" Romeo asks as he sits down on a swing. Wendy takes the swing next to him.

"No, not yet. I hope to someday! Grandine said that everything can communicate with one another. I can only hear the wind, but one day I wish to hear what the trees are saying!"

"You can hear the wind?!" Romeo's face held such wonder and surprise. Wendy realized she had let information slip. Of course she could hear the wind. She was the one that guided it. The wind listened to her and she listened back. That's how she knew where Juvia was, the wind had told her.

"Yeah, but it doesn't speak to people it doesn't know nor people who can't understand it," that's right, the wind only really spoke to those in the wind department. Of course the reason for that is a little complicated.

"Wow! I hope I can speak to the wind someday!" Romeo's eyes sparkle.

"Maybe you will. I'll try to introdu-"

"Hey weirdo!" some kid shouted over to them. The two look up to see three kids approaching them. Romeo scowls.

"Those three are in my class. Ignore them," Wendy nods.

"Yeah! Weirdo Romeo! We're talking to you!"

"Go away, I'm talking to my friend."

"That's the thing, you're talking to air!" Romeo looks between Wendy and his classmates. Wendy was just surprised. If Romeo could see her then she must not be invisible, but how come they couldn't see her?

"I'm not! Stop messing around! Wendy is right here!"

"Oh? You're so lonely you made up an imaginary girlfriend?" one boy snickers.

"What?! No! Wendy is right here! She's right-"

"They can't see me," she stands up.

"Wendy?"

"Romeo, they can't see me. I knew I was invisible."

"Don't say that! You're not that quiet! They're just messing around!" his statement made the boys laugh and taunt even more.

"Romeo, not that kind of invisible," Wendy laughs. "I'm invisible invisible. They can't see me, and you shouldn't be able to either."

"What?"

"I'll explain things on another day. I guess this is my cue to leave," she smiles, "but before I go, want me to take care of these guys?"

"H-How?"

"I'm invisible, remember? Watch this," Wendy grabs the hats off the three boys an starts running away with them. The boys yelp and look frantically around for their items. When they see their hats flying off in the wind, they immediately forget about Romeo and run after them. "Bye Romeo!" Wendy calls.

"Bye Wendy!" Romeo yells back with a smile.

He didn't understand what had happened, but he was excited. Excited that he met such an interesting and strange friend. He wanted to know why his classmates couldn't see her, why she could hear the wind, and most importantly he wanted to know who she was. Of course he would have to ask her tomorrow. Right now, he had homework to do at home.

After a while, Wendy got bored from running around with the hats. She placed them on a branch of a tree just high enough to barely be out of the bullies' reach. For such a sweet girl, she could be very cruel when she wanted. Wendy flew home thinking of her new friend. It baffled her why he could see her when she was supposed to be invisible. No matter how hard she thought, no answers came. Perhaps she would go and ask master. She needed to report to him soon anyways. Regardless, Wendy was overjoyed about making her first human friend. Gray and Juvia would be home and she couldn't wait to tell them about her new friend!


	20. Another update (yay)

**Hello readers! I'm constantly apologizing for not updating and it seems I'm doing it again. Despite being months ago, writing the more recent chapters has caused me to hit a roadblock. I have taken my sweet time going around this roadblock and I apologize for taking so long. New chapters will be every other friday starting from this week. In the near future I may start revising the story, but it depends on my schedule.**

 **Thank you for your patience and welcome new readers!**

 **Red**


	21. Chapter 18

Those peaceful days tick on and on. They were the days that passed by in a flash, the ones you forget what happened by the next day. Those are the most precious. Those are the ones you don't appreciate until they become nothing but melted snow in your hands.

Gray sighed as he checked his mail. It was empty today too.

"Gray-sama! It's cold! Are you coming in?!" Juvia called from the door. Gray sighed once more, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah!" he walked into his house where Wendy happily greeted him. Gray checked his calendar. It was late february by now. He knew he should be patient, but patience just wasn't doing him any good right now. Him and Juvia didn't need to work today so he worked on his homework until there was a knock on his door. Natsu and Lucy stood there.

"Sup Gray!" Natsu grinned.

"Why do you keep coming to my house?"

"What? Am I not allowed onto public property?" Natsu asks with fake hurt.

"This is private property you dimwit."

"Sorry for coming, Gray," Lucy smiles apologetically.

"It's fine. You're a friend Lucy, come by any time you want."

"Wait! And I'm not?!" Natsu feigned shock.

"It's up in the air right now. Come on in, it's not gonna do me any good shutting the door now," Gray said, beckoning them in.

"Hey Juvia! Hey Wendy! Long time no see!" Natsu says when he enters the house.

"Long time no see, Natsu," Juvia giggled, knowing they had seen each other about an hour ago during study.

"Alright here's the deal guys!" Natsu announces, jumping over the back of Gray's couch and standing on the cushions. "I have my big game this saturday! Like really big champion game! Like tv coverage and everything! I want to see every single one of you there!"

"Why? So I can boo and jeer at you?" Gray snickers. "Plus Juvia, Wendy, nor Lucy know the game."

"Just... Cheer for me, alright?" Natsu sighs.

* * *

"Juvia still doesn't understand the game..." Juvia says. Gray had spent the entire ride trying to explain it to her. Luckily Wendy and Lucy seemed to understand it after the first explanation. Sadly still Juvia didn't understand as they walked through the parking lot.

"For the last time, a team throws a ball into their net. Ball goes in, they get a point depending on how far they are from the net. Ball doesn't, the other team has a chance to get it in their respective net."

"Juvia is still a little confused..."

"How?! Know what? I'll explain what's going on in there, got it?" Gray asks, Juvia nods. The four enter the stadium. "This is the championship game so there's gonna be a lot of people," Gray looked around, noticing people from their school as well as the rival school. Wendy's face seemed to light up and she starts tugging on Gray's sleeve.

"Gray! Gray! Is it alright if I explore? I promise to be back before the game," Wendy grins.

"Sure, be careful and don't get lost."

"I will! See you later!" she waves and rushed off into the crowd.

"Wendy seems excited," Lucy smiles.

"Well it's her first time at one of these things as well," Juvia comments.

"Gah!" strong arms grasp around Gray's neck. The two girls quickly turn around.

"Gajeel!" Juvia gasps.

"Yo! Imma borrow stripper here for a few seconds," Gajeel grins, showing his pointy teeth. Lucy looked a little uncomfortable and stepped back. Gajeel drags Gray back outside and to the parking lot.

"What's your problem Gajeel?!" Gray shouted, shaking himself from Gajeel's grasp.

"Gajeel, you shouldn't treat people so roughly, even if you say they are your friends," a small, yet strong voice chastises him lightly. Gray freezes, he hadn't noticed that he had been dragged to Gajeel's car and he certainly didn't notice the girl leaning against it. She closed the book in her hands and tucked it under her arm.

"Stripper this is shrimp, shrimp this is stripper," the girl lightly elbowed Gajeel in the stomach, making Gajeel laugh. "You want some shrimp?" he ruffled her hair.

"Gajeel!" she complained, batting his hands away. When Gajeel stopped his attack, she held out her hand for Gray.

"My name is Levy McGarden, pleased to meet you," she introduced herself.

"Gray Fullbuster," Gray shook her hand. A shiver went down his spine, her hands were freezing cold.

"So here's the deal stripper, Metalicana took shrimp in so she lives with us. Long story short, shrimp's been asking to meet you."

"Meet me?"

"And your other friend, Natsu," Levy adds. "Now shoo, Gajeel. I need to talk to Gray alone, so go inside and save us some seats," Gajeel groans, but turns around and walks away anyways.

"See you two inside!" he waves. Levy waited until she was sure Gajeel was far away then she took a deep breath.

"Gray, how long have you known Gajeel?" Levy asks. Gray scratches his head.

"Gajeel? I don't know? Couple of years maybe?"

"Exactly how many?"

"The beginning of high school I believe so around four years? Metalicana, is friends with Natsu's foster father so I think Natsu's known him for slightly longer."

"I see... Does he ever mention anything from before he met you?"

"Not really. I've never really asked so he never really told."

"I understand now. Gray, Gajeel considers you and Natsu to be friends. Please continue to be friends and look after him no matter what happens."

"Um, alright?" Gray honestly had no idea where any of this was coming from. He had just met her and she was already talking a bit strange. Or perhaps she was talking normally, but Gray has been around so many strange people recently that he forgot how talking to someone normal felt.

"Let's go inside. The game is starting soon. I heard how Natsu commanded Gajeel to come," Levy giggled.

"Levy, are you Gajeel's girlfriend?" the girl immediately blushed.

"Wha-What?! O-Of course not! He's just like a roommate! I-I couldn't possibly be his girlfriend!" her face was bright red. Gray shrugged, deciding not to push it. He was just curious, after all it wasn't everyday that Gajeel listened to somebody.

"Gray! Where were you?! Juvia was so worried!" Juvia almost cried when he came back inside. Gajeel watched the two and laughed.

"S-Sorry Juvia," Gray responded.

"Who's this?" Juvia looked at Levy. Levy's eyes were wide as she looked between Juvia and Lucy. "Wait, don't tell Juvia! Is Juvia being replaced?!"

"How did you jump to that conclusion?!"

"My name is Levy," she finally spoke up. "I live with Gajeel and Metalicana."

"Oh!" Juvia looked very relieved about not being replaced from who knows what position. "Juvia is my name! Nice to meet you Levy!"

"I'm Lucy," Lucy smiled, "I have a feeling we're going to get along well."

"Nice to meet all of you," Levy smiles. "Gajeel, I thought you were going to find us some seats?"

"Oi, not my fault this woman assaulted me, looking for her Gray, when I came through the door," Gajeel growls.

"Why don't we sit together as a group?" Lucy suggests. "That way Natsu won't miss us and we won't have to deal with his complaining for a week."

"That's a great idea Lu-chan! Ah! Is it alright for me to call you Lu-chan?" Levy asks.

"It don't mind! It is a cute nickname!" Lucy smiles, waving her hands in front of her. The group made their way into the court. Luckily they found a big enough spot for all of them.

"Will Wendy be able to find us here?" Juvia asks, looking around for the small girl.

"Wendy? Who's Wendy?" Gajeel asks.

"Wendy is Juvia's little sister. Natsu commanded her to come as well," Juvia said their excuse like it was nothing.

"Ooooh I see her," Lucy smirked. She had caught sight of Wendy happily talking to a boy around her age. "Looks like Wendy made a little friend."

"Where?!" Juvia craned her neck, trying to find her pretend sister.

"Let's leave them for now, we can get her after the game," Lucy patted Juvia's shoulder.

"But Wendy said she'd be back!"

"Let's leave them," Lucy stated once more. She turned to face the court when the muffled voice of the MC announced the beginning of the game. Both teams took their place on the court, including Natsu. His bright pink hair and red jersey called many eyes upon him. A rare look of seriousness had been carved into his face. The referee tossed the ball into the air. The orange ball climbed through the air. Both sides moved, reaching out their hands.

This was the start, and there was no turning back now.


	22. Chapter 19

**Sorry for this chapter's delay! My iPad is being fixed and most of the new chapters are on there and I haven't been able to go on the internet that often.**

* * *

"We are the Champions my friend~!"

"I SWEAR TO GOD NATSU SING THAT SONG ONE MORE TIME AND THE NEXT TIME YOU HEAR IT WILL BE AT YOUR FUNERAL!" Gray shouted, half the restaurant stared at him.

"Geez, I'm sorry you don't appreciate how we won!" Natsu stuck out his tongue. His team had gone out for a celebratory dinner and of course Natsu's friends were dragged along. Luckily Natsu sat with his team while the others sat at a table close by.

"When we win the football tournament we're playing that song every single day," Gajeel states with a straight and serious face.

"Deal," the two shake on it.

The game had been a close one with of course the "hero" pulling off the winning shot at last minute. Nobody could tell if Natsu meant to do that or if fate decided to make him the protagonist for the night. It didn't help that Gray basically had to narrate everything Natsu did so Juvia could understand it.

"You're not the ones who'll have to listen to him go on and on about his winning shot," Lucy groaned.

"I understand why Natsu has fans now," Wendy says.

"I didn't know Natsu had fans," Juvia commented.

"Ah! Well I was talking to someone who was a fan of Natsu."

"Still... Natsu has a fan..." Gray thought for a moment. "Well there were talent scouts and it is his second championship game..."

"Yo! You talking about me?!" Natsu jumped onto the back of Lucy's seat, nearly making the two of them fall over.

"How can we not? The entire restaurant is talking about how loud you are," Gajeel scoffed.

"Well I'm sorry that we-"

"If you say that 'we won' then I'm ripping your throat out."

"Geez, tough crowd. Hey Igneel said that tomorrow he's gonna buy several gallons of ice cream. Wanna come over for an extended celebration?"

"Ice cream?" both Wendy and Juvia ask.

"Yeah! You know, cold frozen treat made from cream. It's really good."

"Gray can we go?!" Wendy's eyes sparkle, Juvia's were too. Gray sighed, knowing he had no choice.

"Guess I have no choice. What time?"

"Probably around noon."

"I have work until three."

"Then whenever you can. What about you Gajeel?"

"Nah, I'm gonna pass."

"I'd like to go," Levy says, looking up from her book. Gajeel nearly fell out of his chair.

"Wha-?!"

"I would like to go. I had fun talking to everybody today, I'd like to talk to them again."

"Bu- Levy!"

"You don't have to take me. Gray would you be willing to pick me up?"

"Hey! I don't want stripper driving you! I'll drive you!"

"Alright, thank you Gajeel. It looks like we're both going as well."

"Cool! Thank you whoever you are!"

"Levy McGarden. I introduced myself earlier, you don't remember?"

"Uh... Nope!" Natsu smiled dumbly. "So the gang's all going! Luce, let's go. See you guys tomorrow!"

* * *

Juvia shivered and pulled her coat closer to her. Gray saw this and glared at Natsu.

"Why are we even out here? It's freezing!" the fresh snow crunched underfoot as the group walked to the park.

"To make snow forts of course! And have the best snowball fight ever!" Natsu grinned.

"Nobody agreed to this," Gajeel grumbled.

"The champion gets to choose the activities!"

"Nobody agreed to that either!" the boys continued to bicker. Juvia sighed, looking ahead at Lucy and Levy. They got along perfectly well. Why couldn't the guys get along like the girls did? She suddenly collided into something.

"Oh, sorry," Juvia looked up to see she had collided with Gajeel. He paid no attention to her. Instead he stared right in front of him, the others had stopped as well to look at something. Juvia peered around Gajeel and gasped. The park's field was covered in a thick layer of black snow.

"Wh-What is this?" Lucy whispered, but the whole group still heard her. Levy bent down and picked up a handful of the blak snow.

"It's like regular snow, but black. Perhaps it's mixed with soot," Levy dropped it and wiped her hands.

"Soot?" as Juvia asked the sky opened up and more black snow drifted down. It was only then that Juvia felt overwhelming heat from behind her. She turned around to find an inferno blazing behind her. Juvia gasped, trying to grab onto Gray, but no one was there anymore.

"Everybody?" she looked around. She was sure they were there a moment ago. Instead the sound of sobbing reached her ears. Juvia approached the noise and found Wendy sobbing in front of the fire. "Wendy?" Juvia reached out to touch her, but Wendy turned to shadows and disappeared. "W-What is going on?!"

A shadowy hand reached out and grabbed her. Juvia screamed and thrashed, but her captor's grip held her tight. A man emerged from the shadows, snickering with a wicked grin. Juvia was close to tears by now. The man gave a dismissive gesture and Juvia was being dragged again. She was tossed down a pit oozing with shadows. Her hands reached out, gripping nothingness. She looked up at her captor, his face was dark with an unreadable face, but she knew who it was. It was Gajeel. Juvia screamed his name, but no sound escaped her lips. There was only nothingness around her. Juvia was terrified. She closed her eyes, feeling the darkness around her. Warm arms wrapped around her shoulders. Juvia opened her eyes again. She looked to the side to see golden light around her.

"Wake up," a warm, kind voice whispered in her ears. Juvia's eyes snapped open. She was in her bed, her covers tossed up around her. She was surprised not to find Wendy sleeping beside her. Juvia stepped out of bed and walked to the living room. She saw both Gray and Wendy in the kitchen. Gray looked like he was making breakfast while Wendy rested her head on the table.

"Good morning," Juvia smiled. Wendy just groaned.

"Morning," Gray said without looking up, "I'm guessing you had a nightmare last night."

"How did you know?!"

"Wendy said you were tossing and turning a lot and crawled into my bed in the middle of the night."

"Oh."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really..." Juvia didn't want to talk about how she saw Wendy and Gajeel. Gray paused for a moment, but shrugged and went on making their breakfast.

* * *

"Hey guys we're here! You won't believe who we met- woah!" Gray walked into Natsu's house. His first reaction was to cover Wendy's eyes.

"What?! Gray what's wrong?!" Wendy tried grasping at Gray's fingers. He wouldn't budge. Of course he wouldn't. Lucy was in a bunny suit! He couldn't let Wendy see that!

"Gah! Natsu I told you I didn't want to wear this!" Lucy screamed, completely mortified.

"Geez! Fine! Go change if you must!" Natsu frowned. Lucy ran off.

"What... Happened before we got here?" Gray asked.

"Oh this and that," Gajeel responded. "We were gonna have Happy and Lily fight to see which was the better cat. When they wouldn't we thought if bunny girl dressed up they'd be more inclined to fight."

"I told you it wouldn't work. Luce's body has very little appeal," Natsu responds bluntly, adjusting Happy in his lap.

"Right..." Gray finally takes his hands off Wendy's eyes.

"What happened?!" she looked around.

"We'll tell you later," Gray patted her shoulder and walked to the other guys. "So other than the cat fight, did I miss anything?"

"Nah, not really. Igneel still hasn't come back with the ice cream so we've just been playing video games."

"Sounds fun," Gray rolls his eyes. He looks over to where Juvia was. Wendy was talking to Levy, but Juvia had been oddly quiet all day. That morning she had been staring at Wendy, but now she was staring past Gray. Gray looked back and realized she was looking at Gajeel. She finally looked away when Lucy came back. Gray sighed.

"Yo, ice princess, did you hear me?" he turned back and found both Natsu and Gajeel staring at him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm listening."

* * *

"I didn't know ice cream was so cold," Wendy shivered as she walked up the driveway.

"That's why I didn't want to go," Gray commented, a tad bit chilly himself.

"I had fun though! It was my first time playing video games!"

"Don't play too much or your brains will rot and fall out like Natsu."

"That really happens?!"

"You're smart, I'm sure it won't be a problem," he ruffled her hair causing her to giggle. Gray looked ahead as Juvia opened the door. She had started talking a little bit more at the little party. Gray suddenly realized he forgot to do something. "Ah! Wait a minute! I need to check the mail!"

Gray peeled away from the two girls and ran to the end of the driveway. He opened the mailbox and quickly leafed through the letters and magazines. He stopped at one particular envelope. It wasn't one of those usual envelopes, it was large. It was addressed to him. It was from his top pick college.


	23. Chapter 20

**Hey everybody sorry for the lack of updates. I'm having difficulties getting the chapters from my iPad right now so I've been doing my best to rewrite them! Plus last month was extremely busy and although it's calmed down a little, I still have a lot going on. Thank you for being so patient!**

* * *

"Ur! I have amazing news!" Gray burst through the front door of the shop.

"You couldn't use the back door?" Lyon complained as he sat at the cash register.

"Great timing Gray! Could you help me with the upcoming craft fai-"

"There's no time for that! Ur you have to see this!" he waved a piece of paper in front of her. When he calmed down enough she read it.

"Gray that's amazing!" Ur grinned.

"What's the big deal?" Lyon came out from behind the cash register. He read the paper as well. "No way! You actually got into Tartaros University?!"

"Yeah!"

"Um..." Juvia calls from the door of the store. "Juvia is confused."

"Tartaros is the college my dad went to," Gray said. "I've always wanted to go there. Of course it's really hard to, but I actually got in!"

"I'm so proud! We need to celebrate tonight!" Ur hugs Gray. "Hold on let me call Ultear!" Ur pushes a box to the side and runs to the back room.

"Never thought you'd be able to get in," Lyon pats Gray on the back. In the next breath he glides over to Juvia. "Juvia, my darling, while they are celebrating, let us slip off into the night and spend some quality time together."

"Um, no thank you," Juvia slipped past him an ran back over to Gray. "Gray never explained what Tartaros University is."

"It was my dad's college. They have a huge campus! It's so big it's been split into several different parts! I don't know what major I want to do, but that's alright since they have an exploratory course. Then in sports their mascot is a demon, the Tartaros Demons! They dominate in several sports!"

"Will Gray enter a sport?"

"Of course!"

"Then Juvia will go to every game and cheer for Gray-sama!"

"That's gonna be a bit hard, since you can't drive."

"But Gray-sama can drive Juvia!"

"I won't be able to, the school is over two hours away. It'll be four hours to drive home and drive back and they don't even allow cars the first year."

"So how will Gray-sama get to school everyday?"

"I'll be living on campus, of course."

"Gray-sama won't be living at home? Does that mean Juvia and Wendy will be alone?"

Gray stared at her for a few moments. He knew her statement meant no harm, Juvia almost never wished for harm, but those words cut him. Leaving Wendy, who was just a girl, and leaving Juvia, who had very little knowledge about the world. Gray hadn't thought about it before. His mouth opened and closed, gasping for words. What should he say? The answer was a definite yes, but something stopped him from saying it.

"I made a reservation at a really nice restaurant!" Ur came crashing in, unaware of Gray's inner dilemma. "Meredy said she'll join us and of course I assumed Juvia would be coming as well. Oh this is so exciting!"

"U-Um right..." Gray responded, no longer sure of himself. Ur looked at Lyon who only offered a shrug before going back to the cash register.

* * *

"So I'm staying with Natsu and Lucy tonight?" Wendy asked over the phone.

"Yeah, Lucy said she's willing to look after you. You'll be fine going over there, right? Since you're like the wind or something," Gray responded. He leaned against the door of the restaurant watching from the window as the others waited for the table in the waiting room.

"I only guide it, but yes, I think I'll be fine."

"Cool, well talk to you later," Gray hung up the phone. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he pulled out the college acceptance letter. He should be enthused. He had been earlier. Ur brought everyone to a nice restaurant and was paying, he didn't have to worry about Wendy while they were gone, the college he always dreamed of going to was finally within his reach. But why wasn't he happy?

Gray promptly shoved the letter back into his pocket. He reentered the restaurant and sat in the free seat next to Meredy.

"This wait is taking forever!" Meredy immediately turned her attention from the flirting Lyon to the downcast Gray.

"Hm? Oh, right. It's a good thing we made a reservation," Meredy pouted, expecting more of a conversation.

"So who were you on the phone with?"

"A friend about a group project."

"Hey Juvia!" Meredy once again turned her attention to someone new. "Did you hear about the new fortune teller at the mall? I heard her predictions are very accurate and she's becoming really popular!"

"Fortune teller?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah, although she's only gonna be there for another month. I can book us an appointment before she leaves!"

"That sounds fun! Juvia will ask Lucy if she wants to join!"

"That sounds great! What about you Gray?" the pinkette elbows him in the arm. "Maybe you could ask about what to major in."

"Maybe," Gray replied thoughtfully, his tone taking Meredy by surprise.

"Alright!" she takes out her phone. "The earliest slot is this Thursday for an hour, I'll book it now and we can find more people later. Aaand... done!"

Gray had pictured this day to be special. He would get his acceptance letter, there would be a nice dinner, he'd go to Tartaros, and his life would be great. Except he never expected the sudden appearance of Juvia, a naive girl with no memories. When he helped her, he never expected his life to be changed like this, and he didn't know whether to be happy or mad. The blue haired girl that sat across from him was an enigma.

"Is Gray-sama alright?" Juvia stared at him with curious, deep blue eyes. The car ride home had been quiet thus far.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"But Gray-sama barely ate."

"I'll just eat the leftovers for lunch."

"If there is something wrong you can talk to Juvia," Gray sighed and relented.

"You reach a major crossroad in your life, you have to choose either what you've been dreaming your entire life, or go on a new path. Which would you choose?"

"Whichever one Gray-sama is going on!"

"That's not an answer."

"Then... the new path. Juvia has no memories of her life before Gray-sama, no hopes, no dreams, she doesn't remember how it feels to have life long dreams. Everyday is a new path for Juvia. But that's not going to stop Juvia from going down them! Juvia isn't going to mourn over her lost memories! She'll just make new ones with Gray-sama!"

"I think I asked the wrong person," Gray sighed.

"Juvia understands that Gray-sama will have to go far away. So Juvia will stay with someone else until she can be reunited with Gray-sama!"

"Juvia, you don't have to. You can make your own decisions."

"Juvia decided long ago that she would be by Gray-sama's side!"

"I appreciate it."


End file.
